‘It was preventable’: The corporate world is reeling from new threats after UnitedHealthcare CEO’s murder.

CEO of United Healthcare Brian Thompson was fatally shot Wednesday while doing something that countless other American executives routinely do: walk unaccompanied to an investor event held by his company.

But Thompson’s death this week in the heart of corporate America’s capital has sent shockwaves throughout the business world, forcing companies to reconsider the risks in even the most routine executive responsibilities.

“Everybody’s saying, ‘Are we safe?'” he said Chuck RandolphChief Security Officer for Ontic, a threat management software provider in Austin, Texas. “This is an inflection point where the idea of ​​executive protection is now taken up at the board level. Everyone I know in the industry is feeling it.”

Threats against corporations have been on the rise for years, fueled in part by social media’s echo chamber and a more polarized political environment, according to security professionals. But the killing on a Manhattan sidewalk of Thompson, the head of the largest private health insurance company in America, is the biggest such incident in decades.

Companies are now concerned that their leaders face a greater risk of torture, especially as they hold more public investor events in New York in the coming weeks.

The gunman is still at large, and his motive is unknown. Words written on a shell casing found at the crime scene Can provide hints. What motivated the shooter?

One question from security experts who were not involved in the case was whether the shooter aired complaints against UnitedHealthcare in online forums and sought information about the investor event. Several health care companies have responded by pulling photos of executives from their websites, and health insurer Centene held an investor meeting. virtual After the murder.

According to NYPD officials, Thompson did not have a security detail Wednesday morning despite the threats against him. According to the company, none of UnitedHealth’s executives received personal security benefits Filing.

If Thompson had been, several important factors would have been different. Before they arrived, officials would have gone to the hotel to check for threats. It would have been accompanied by armed security who would have used the hotel’s alternate entrance, he said Scott StewartVice President of Torchstone Global.

“It was preventable,” said Stewart, who said he has been in the industry for nearly four decades. “I’ve never seen an executive with a comprehensive security program suffer like this.”

Still, before this week’s shocking events, it was not unusual for executives to dismiss security because of the disruption to their lives, or the image it might create, several security veterans said. said

“Not every CEO needs heavy-duty protection,” said a security chief at a technology firm who was not authorized to speak to the press. “Senior executives are exposed to threats all day long, you need a platform” to review them and determine if they are credible and timely, he said.

Since Thompson’s murder, a wide spectrum of companies have been tried. Additional protection For executives, Matthew Dumpert, managing director of Kroll Enterprise Security Risk Management, told CNBC.

In the coming weeks, there are several financial conferences in New York that CEOs will be attending in person. So far, the biggest concern with these events has been disruption by environmental activists or other protesters, said a manager at a major bank.

“Everybody is taking a look and thinking about security for their senior people,” said an executive at a major Wall Street firm.

Some corporate security veterans said they were seen as a cost center whose leaders were “buried too deep in the organization to be heard.”

“The bias is that security is a pain in people’s teeth, and not that important,” said the person, who asked not to be named.

“I hope this will open their eyes,” he said. “Risk intelligence and assessment is critical, and security is more than just guns, guards and doors.”

– CNBC’s Jordan Novet, Bertha Coombs and Dan Mangan contributed to this report.