UnitedHealth CEO Shot dead

[dividendman]

This was the top article on the WSJ. The comments were interesting. Many people opining that the CEO was killed by someone who had a family member die or him/herself was financially ruined due to a denial of health care coverage. Of course, we don't know yet.

My fear is that this is the latest episode of violence due to the increase of the wealth inequality problem in the US.

We'll see what the actual motivation is, but I do find it odd that people will give more sympathy to this man than the millions that were impacted and died due to his decisions to put profits over people.

[achvfi]

This was the top article on the WSJ. The comments were interesting. Many people opining that the CEO was killed by someone who had a family member die or him/herself was financially ruined due to a denial of health care coverage. Of course, we don't know yet.

My fear is that this is the latest episode of violence due to the increase of the wealth inequality problem in the US.

We'll see what the actual motivation is, but I do find it odd that people will give more sympathy to this man than the millions that were impacted and died due to his decisions to put profits over people.

What ever the facts of this case healthcare system overall has become greedy and is broken. For 2 decades now it has become very clear, incentives in US healthcare are not aligned with health. Hospitals, doctors, insurers, Pharma, Pharma benefit managers every part of healthcare infrastructure have become too greedy. While people are aware of this for a while, Insurers will take most of the blame by all parties for the issues that are plaguing the system as they are the main interface for all parties.  I am not surprised a bit about peoples reaction.

[jrhampt]

Yes, I would not be shocked if this turns out to be related to "late stage capitalism".

[Sibley]

Yeah, I'm not actually surprised that the general event happened. The specifics (who, where, when, etc) are of course a surprise. But the fact that someone shot a big company CEO? That isn't a surprise. The current political, economic, and social conditions are ripe for violence. Its likely going to get worse before it gets better.

[GilesMM]

Shooter used a silencer. Could be a mob hit.


Corp CEOs will use this as an excuse to double their corporate security budgets at home, office and while traveling.  More jobs for retired military and FBI types who don't mind wearing suits and earpieces while overhearing executive drivel.

[reeshau]

Shooter used a silencer. Could be a mob hit.


Corp CEOs will use this as an excuse to double their corporate security budgets at home, office and while traveling.  More jobs for retired military and FBI types who don't mind wearing suits and earpieces while overhearing executive drivel.

That doesn't make it fun for them.

My in-laws bought a house from an Exxon exec in the 90's.  This was when the Exxon Valdez was still fresh.  The security system on that house was insane.  It's one thing to do it, but to feel you *need* to go to that level would not help me sleep at night.

[Financial.Velociraptor]

This was the top article on the WSJ. The comments were interesting. Many people opining that the CEO was killed by someone who had a family member die or him/herself was financially ruined due to a denial of health care coverage. Of course, we don't know yet.

My fear is that this is the latest episode of violence due to the increase of the wealth inequality problem in the US.

We'll see what the actual motivation is, but I do find it odd that people will give more sympathy to this man than the millions that were impacted and died due to his decisions to put profits over people.

There aren't good records for the wealth of the aristocracy in France before the revolution and most of the wealth was held in assets that traded infrequently and are thus hard to properly value.  But I started taking notice in 1998 during my Econ undergrad that the US was on an inescapable trajectory of mirroring the inequality of that time.  Occupy Wall Street isn't so distant in time. I was expecting our Bastille Day moment at any time during OWS. I'm not sure how the new oligarchs managed to save their skins. 

Side note: saw a meme on Facebook just last week that said something to the effect of "If were to EAT just one of these billionaire mutha fuckas, the rest would surely fall in line."  I think the difference this time is the executions will be less humane than the guillotine. 

[ChpBstrd]

UNH stock is up today. Maybe the market has discounted the value of one golden parachute, plus a few months of executive salary?

[Villanelle]

This was the top article on the WSJ. The comments were interesting. Many people opining that the CEO was killed by someone who had a family member die or him/herself was financially ruined due to a denial of health care coverage. Of course, we don't know yet.

My fear is that this is the latest episode of violence due to the increase of the wealth inequality problem in the US.

We'll see what the actual motivation is, but I do find it odd that people will give more sympathy to this man than the millions that were impacted and died due to his decisions to put profits over people.

There aren't good records for the wealth of the aristocracy in France before the revolution and most of the wealth was held in assets that traded infrequently and are thus hard to properly value.  But I started taking notice in 1998 during my Econ undergrad that the US was on an inescapable trajectory of mirroring the inequality of that time.  Occupy Wall Street isn't so distant in time. I was expecting our Bastille Day moment at any time during OWS. I'm not sure how the new oligarchs managed to save their skins. 

Side note: saw a meme on Facebook just last week that said something to the effect of "If were to EAT just one of these billionaire mutha fuckas, the rest would surely fall in line."  I think the difference this time is the executions will be less humane than the guillotine.

I think part of it is that they have done an outstanding job of creating scapegoats and directing the anger and frustration toward them and away from themselves.  It's not the .1%; it's the immigrants and the trans people and the libtards who are responsible for all the suffering. 

[ChpBstrd]

This was the top article on the WSJ. The comments were interesting. Many people opining that the CEO was killed by someone who had a family member die or him/herself was financially ruined due to a denial of health care coverage. Of course, we don't know yet.

My fear is that this is the latest episode of violence due to the increase of the wealth inequality problem in the US.

We'll see what the actual motivation is, but I do find it odd that people will give more sympathy to this man than the millions that were impacted and died due to his decisions to put profits over people.

There aren't good records for the wealth of the aristocracy in France before the revolution and most of the wealth was held in assets that traded infrequently and are thus hard to properly value.  But I started taking notice in 1998 during my Econ undergrad that the US was on an inescapable trajectory of mirroring the inequality of that time.  Occupy Wall Street isn't so distant in time. I was expecting our Bastille Day moment at any time during OWS. I'm not sure how the new oligarchs managed to save their skins. 

Side note: saw a meme on Facebook just last week that said something to the effect of "If were to EAT just one of these billionaire mutha fuckas, the rest would surely fall in line."  I think the difference this time is the executions will be less humane than the guillotine.

I think part of it is that they have done an outstanding job of creating scapegoats and directing the anger and frustration toward them and away from themselves.  It's not the .1%; it's the immigrants and the trans people and the libtards who are responsible for all the suffering.

IDK, I think consumerism is different than feudalism. Yes, in either system regular people sacrifice their lives working until death. However, the key innovation of consumerism is bribing the workers with fun little things like cars, iphones, golf course houses, and fast fashion. Receiving these things - which the workers themselves produce - gives the workers a bunch of distracting things to play with and creates the illusion in the workers' minds that they are increasing their status relative to others. The workers will still work all their lives, and benefit the ownership class, but they think they're doing great, and so revolts are rarer.

That kind of system is inherently more stable than the famine conditions of 1800's France. However, there is reason to believe the economy is transitioning toward the worst aspects of feudalism.

[Morning Glory]

People get shot every day here. It's only "news" because this time it's some rich dude and not a retail worker/random bystander. If the media covered all of them to this extent we'd have reasonable gun laws by now.

[fuzzy math]

People get shot every day here. It's only "news" because this time it's some rich dude and not a retail worker/random bystander. If the media covered all of them to this extent we'd have reasonable gun laws by now.

People get shot all the time, people don't always get publicly executed by an expert with a silencer. This raises eyebrows for a ton of reasons, none of them just being that "he's rich" but how he got rich and the corrupt system that has pushed someone to this point.

[Cranky]

It’s interesting how not shocking this is.

[twinstudy]

This was the top article on the WSJ. The comments were interesting. Many people opining that the CEO was killed by someone who had a family member die or him/herself was financially ruined due to a denial of health care coverage. Of course, we don't know yet.

My fear is that this is the latest episode of violence due to the increase of the wealth inequality problem in the US.

We'll see what the actual motivation is, but I do find it odd that people will give more sympathy to this man than the millions that were impacted and died due to his decisions to put profits over people.

There aren't good records for the wealth of the aristocracy in France before the revolution and most of the wealth was held in assets that traded infrequently and are thus hard to properly value.  But I started taking notice in 1998 during my Econ undergrad that the US was on an inescapable trajectory of mirroring the inequality of that time.  Occupy Wall Street isn't so distant in time. I was expecting our Bastille Day moment at any time during OWS. I'm not sure how the new oligarchs managed to save their skins. 

Side note: saw a meme on Facebook just last week that said something to the effect of "If were to EAT just one of these billionaire mutha fuckas, the rest would surely fall in line."  I think the difference this time is the executions will be less humane than the guillotine.

I don't think the underclass has the organising ability to do anything more than sporadic unfocussed violence. Time will tell I guess. But I'd be betting my money on the State, in this scenario.

It pays to not advertise your wealth too freely. No one needs to know how much money you have and how many rental properties you own. No one outside these forums, anyway :)

[PeteD01]

This was the top article on the WSJ. The comments were interesting. Many people opining that the CEO was killed by someone who had a family member die or him/herself was financially ruined due to a denial of health care coverage. Of course, we don't know yet.

My fear is that this is the latest episode of violence due to the increase of the wealth inequality problem in the US.

We'll see what the actual motivation is, but I do find it odd that people will give more sympathy to this man than the millions that were impacted and died due to his decisions to put profits over people.

Just watched the video of the assassination.

Definitely a professional job.

Location is Manhattan.

Victim is CEO of large corporation.

Said corporation has been suspected to have engaged in large scale Medicare fraud to the tune of 8+ billion $$ in addition to numerous other financial crimes that together have likely resulted in deaths and injuries of many policyholders.

These days one finds the more important mob players in boardrooms rather than running numbers or similar rackets.

United Health looks more like a racketeering operation at the highest level than anything and that, in turn, makes the assassination look like a gangland killing designed to send a message.

We'll see - or not.

[twinstudy]

One thing that struck me as interesting is that if you go to the subreddit r/antiwork (which is composed of a bunch of unemployed people/people who hate the system), the entire front page is taken up by discussions about the shooting.

[Dancin'Dog]

I wonder how Trump's ear is doing?

[Zamboni]

United Healthcare is so bad about how they treat medical providers and the ridiculous rate that they decline claims that my very, very large local hospital spent a lot of time considering just booting them (and their insured) out of the system.
He was at the helm of a very corrupt ship, that's for sure. It seems like there are a huge number of possible reasons that someone might have wanted to shoot him in the back.

[Kris]

United Healthcare is so bad about how they treat medical providers and the ridiculous rate that they decline claims that my very, very large local hospital spent a lot of time considering just booting them (and their insured) out of the system.
He was at the helm of a very corrupt ship, that's for sure. It seems like there are a huge number of possible reasons that someone might have wanted to shoot him in the back.

Yep.

[Fru-Gal]

If it was a hit man, it’s surprising that it would be done in such a public place. It seems like there would be so many other options to get the guy alone.

[Zamboni]

I agree. Other than the stone cold nature of it, there was not a hit man vibe to me at all. Initially shot him from fairly far away, escaped into the park on a bicycle, getting filmed before at Starbucks, eyes uncovered, and more . . . just seems like a lot of rookie moves. Not that I'm an expert ;-)

[blue_green_sparks]

Oh dear. How unfortunate. No one deserves that. Also, I do certainly hope he did not fail to obtain prior authorization before seeking care for the gunshot wound to his chest. Of course, they would acknowledge the emergent nature of the situation, however the policy requires that all non-preventative services, including "unexpected chest injuries," be pre-approved through the 24/7 Prior Authorization Hotline.

[LaineyAZ]

Oh dear. How unfortunate. No one deserves that. Also, I do certainly hope he did not fail to obtain prior authorization before seeking care for the gunshot wound to his chest. Of course, they would acknowledge the emergent nature of the situation, however the policy requires that all non-preventative services, including "unexpected chest injuries," be pre-approved through the 24/7 Prior Authorization Hotline.

!

There was some news that they found a water bottle and a phone - if true, it seems they could find this guy fairly quickly.

[GilesMM]

Shell casings suggest a kook with a grudge.

[PeteD01]

Shell casings suggest a kook with a grudge.

Well, he used a suppressor so he had to use a semi automatic; and as long as the weapon disappears, shell markings are not very helpful in the investigation unless shell casings from that gun have been linked to a previous crime.

The water bottle and the cell phone are a different story though.

[reeshau]

Shell casings suggest a kook with a grudge.

Well, he used a suppressor so he had to use a semi automatic; and as long as the weapon disappears, shell markings are not very helpful in the investigation unless shell casings from that gun have been linked to a previous crime.

The water bottle and the cell phone are a different story though.

The three casings had the words "deny" "defend" and "depose" on them.

[PeteD01]

Shell casings suggest a kook with a grudge.

Well, he used a suppressor so he had to use a semi automatic; and as long as the weapon disappears, shell markings are not very helpful in the investigation unless shell casings from that gun have been linked to a previous crime.

The water bottle and the cell phone are a different story though.

The three casings had the words "deny" "defend" and "depose" on them.

Now those are kook vibes for sure.

[Kris]

Shell casings suggest a kook with a grudge.

Well, he used a suppressor so he had to use a semi automatic; and as long as the weapon disappears, shell markings are not very helpful in the investigation unless shell casings from that gun have been linked to a previous crime.

The water bottle and the cell phone are a different story though.

The three casings had the words "deny" "defend" and "depose" on them.

Welp

[jrhampt]

Ah.  Makes sense.  In other insurance news:

https://www.newsweek.com/doctors-rail-against-insurers-new-anesthesia-time-limits-1995875

[Metalcat]

Ah.  Makes sense.  In other insurance news:

https://www.newsweek.com/doctors-rail-against-insurers-new-anesthesia-time-limits-1995875

I was just about to post that another CEO seemed to be itching for some upgraded security.

[jrhampt]

Ah.  Makes sense.  In other insurance news:

https://www.newsweek.com/doctors-rail-against-insurers-new-anesthesia-time-limits-1995875

I was just about to post that another CEO seemed to be itching for some upgraded security.

Right?  It's like they've stopped even pretending to care about their customers.  I wonder whose genius idea this was...

[ChpBstrd]

Coldest-ass meme I’ve seen yet:

[Villanelle]

The S&P 500 hit a new record high yesterday!

[PeteD01]

Interesting what this federal district judge had to say about United Health:

Cancer-Survivor Judge Steps Down From Case Over Insurer's 'Barbaric' Denial of Treatment
Cole, Scott & Kissane managing partner Richard Cole is the named plaintiff in a putative class action lawsuit against United Healthcare Insurance Co., which denied him coverage for proton beam radiation therapy to treat cancer.
April 29, 2019 Zach Schlein

U.S. District Judge Robert Scola on Monday recused himself from Richard Cole v. United Healthcare Insurance Co. in the Southern District of Florida — a case in which prominent Miami litigator and Cole, Scott & Kissane managing partner Richard Cole is the named plaintiff.

The judge wrote that his own life-saving experience with the treatment at the heart of the lawsuit—proton radiation, which United Healthcare Co. does not cover—plus a friend's six-figure medical bills for cancer care prevented him “from deciding this case fairly and impartially.”

https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2019/04/29/cancer-survivor-judge-steps-down-from-case-over-insurers-barbaric-denial-of-treatment/?slreturn=20241205122956

[Cranky]

My dd says she met him at work a couple of years ago, and she isn’t even a little bit shocked.

[Sibley]

I used to work in the health insurance industry. UnitedHealth is really awful. They deny more claims by far than all the other insurance companies.

And I've seen discussions about the shooting on multiple subreddits on Reddit. No one seems to be sad.

[PeteD01]

If it was a hit man, it’s surprising that it would be done in such a public place. It seems like there would be so many other options to get the guy alone.

I think the very public nature of the assassination is actually part of the message.
It does not distinguish lone wolf assassinations from gangland murders though.

The mob either disappears their victims and nobody is the wiser or, if a message is being sent, an assassination is staged as a high profile public event - and that isn't that uncommon.
Putting cryptic messages on shell casings, or taking public responsibility for such deeds is decidedly un-mob-like. Those for whom a message is intended do not need that - they understand.

PHOTOS: In Plain Sight: Mob brutality on the streets of New York
New York Daily News
By New York Daily News | NYDN@medianewsgroup.com
UPDATED: December 15, 2023

Brutal, final and so often carried out in the heart of the city's most public places, mob executions were all too frequent on the streets of New York, but still always shocking.

https://www.nydailynews.com/2020/12/16/in-plain-sight-mob-brutality-on-the-streets-of-new-york/

[zygote]

Ah.  Makes sense.  In other insurance news:

https://www.newsweek.com/doctors-rail-against-insurers-new-anesthesia-time-limits-1995875

BCBS is my hospital insurance and they have taken a noticeable nose dive since they got bought by Anthem a year or two ago. (They used to be Empire BCBS.) Routine prior authorizations that used to be no issue are now being denied even after appeal. They contract all of their admin out to some other company called Carelon and they're a nightmare. Unfortunately my workplace doesn't really offer a good alternative so we're stuck with it for now.

[Dancin'Dog]

Ah.  Makes sense.  In other insurance news:

https://www.newsweek.com/doctors-rail-against-insurers-new-anesthesia-time-limits-1995875

BCBS is my hospital insurance and they have taken a noticeable nose dive since they got bought by Anthem a year or two ago. (They used to be Empire BCBS.) Routine prior authorizations that used to be no issue are now being denied even after appeal. They contract all of their admin out to some other company called Carelon and they're a nightmare. Unfortunately my workplace doesn't really offer a good alternative so we're stuck with it for now.

Hopefully, they're paying attention to the public response to this recent shooting. 

[Fru-Gal]

The estranged wife said he was getting death threats AND said something about it being over lack of coverage, according to news. She also seemed more focused on comforting her kids than grieving him.

He also did not have security, which is unusual in his position. An exec at my megacorp job always had secret service-type guys around them with earpieces, though I wonder if it was selective based on specific threats or if all of the execs had it.

I do think it's silly that people are saying this is late-stage capitalism or a new era of vigilantes is upon us since this seems highly personal. But it would be interesting to know if there's a rise in the number of lone-wolf vigilantes/wannabe mercenaries or if it's at "normal" levels. People like the 2 Trump attempted assassins, the guy who was killed storming an FBI building, American ex-military supposedly going to fight for Russia, etc.

I read somewhere years ago something about assassins in the US being useful crazies. And it is notable that most of them are. Would be interested in reading about that again (analysis of US political assassins) if anyone has a link.

[PeteD01]

So it looks like that the assassin almost certainly is an individual who is personally affected by the business practices of UnitedHealth, directly or indirectly, and/or got radicalized online and developed a fixation on the CEO.

In any case, it moves the motivation for the killing from a purely criminal to a more political/terrorist motivation.

A strictly personal grievance arising from personal relations seems unlikely given the circumstances.

Here is more from someone who seems to know what he's talking about:

CEO shooter labeled a 'doofus' by expert arguing against professional killing theory
Tom Boggioni
December 5

"The exercise to clear rounds are tap, rack, bang and that's drilled into you when you're an agent or officer," he elaborated. "Tap, rack, bang –– he doesn't do that. He racks the gun, the slide, and then he slaps the top of the gun, the top of the slide a couple of times. There's no trained shooter that would do that."

https://www.rawstory.com/brian-thompson-ceo/

Edit: Just want to clarify that I'm referring strictly to the way the author describes how the gunman cleared the jam and I take what he writes at face value.
He is completely wrong about the gunman not taking a shooter's stance - having lived in Manhattan for years, I can guarantee that taking up a shooter's stance is a great way to focus all attention on oneself on a Manhattan street, nonchalance is key and a suppressor helps.

[PeteD01]

...

I read somewhere years ago something about assassins in the US being useful crazies. And it is notable that most of them are. Would be interested in reading about that again (analysis of US political assassins) if anyone has a link.

This paper is not an analysis of US politucal assassins per se, but I think it is very much related to the question you are asking:

Stochastic terrorism: critical reflections on an emerging concept
James AngoveORCID Icon
Pages 21-43 | Received 23 May 2023, Accepted 20 Dec 2023, Published online: 03 Feb 2024

ABSTRACT
This paper critically discusses the recent concept, stochastic terrorism – broadly, the idea that influential individuals may demonise target groups or individuals, inspiring unknown actors to take up terroristic violence against them. I collect together different strains of thought on the emerging concept, reflecting critically on what a suitable definition of the phenomenon would look like (or whether it would be needed), what the social urge to coin the concept may reveal about authoritarian power and violence, and what makes this form of political violence possible. I argue that present commentary fails to emphasise sufficiently the role of mistruth and deceit in such rhetoric, as well as its historical and mainstream precedents. Moreover, I understand the phenomenon to be specifically authoritarian in nature, which not only demonises but dehumanises its targets. In light of this, I suggest that given both the mainstreaming of racist conspiracy theory and the historical and continuing presence of centrally constructed “folk devils”, the authoritarian problem which can manifest into stochastic violence is very much endemic to modern liberal democracies. With this framing of stochastic violence in mind, we ignore it simply as a buzzword at our peril: even if the theoretical issues I have highlighted continue to persist, even if we struggle to pin down the concept with desired clarity – it bears a phenomenological significance and reflects an ongoing political structure of violence.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17539153.2024.2305742#abstract

[MustacheAndaHalf]

Ah.  Makes sense.  In other insurance news:

https://www.newsweek.com/doctors-rail-against-insurers-new-anesthesia-time-limits-1995875

If the only pay for 10 hours of anesthesia in a 14 hour surgery... should hospitals let the patient wake up and scream in pain for the last few hours?  Maybe they can use restraints, or give someone a bottle of whisky and a bullet to bite on.

[Financial.Velociraptor]

Who/how do you name an interim CEO in this case?  How do you hire a permanent replacement? 

Does the board insist on a candidate that promises to reform the claim rejection mechanisms?  If you are a top talent CEO, how much premium do you demand to work for a employer that might get you murdered?  What do they have to pay in additional 24/7 security?  Do key board members or key members of management start resigning out of self preservation?

It is kind of macabre but the assassin might prove to be effective in driving change.

[jrhampt]

Who/how do you name an interim CEO in this case?  How do you hire a permanent replacement? 

Does the board insist on a candidate that promises to reform the claim rejection mechanisms?  If you are a top talent CEO, how much premium do you demand to work for a employer that might get you murdered?  What do they have to pay in additional 24/7 security?  Do key board members or key members of management start resigning out of self preservation?

It is kind of macabre but the assassin might prove to be effective in driving change.

Ha.  Haha.  No one is reforming claim rejections because that would cut into profits.  It seems to me as though they are already getting a premium.  And any additional security costs will raise our own premiums or be covered by even more AI replacing workers/denying claims or all of the above.  No one is going to be concerned about self preservation unless this is not an isolated incident.

[seattlecyclone]

Who/how do you name an interim CEO in this case?  How do you hire a permanent replacement? 

If the board is doing their job they already have a written succession plan in place for which other senior executive would take over on an interim basis. Of course hiring the next permanent CEO might be slightly tougher given how the last one went out, but with the type of compensation these folks get I bet there's plenty of people who would happily take the job and just insist on a company-paid security detail.

[ATtiny85]

Who/how do you name an interim CEO in this case?  How do you hire a permanent replacement? 

Does the board insist on a candidate that promises to reform the claim rejection mechanisms?  If you are a top talent CEO, how much premium do you demand to work for a employer that might get you murdered?  What do they have to pay in additional 24/7 security?  Do key board members or key members of management start resigning out of self preservation?

It is kind of macabre but the assassin might prove to be effective in driving change.

Ha.  Haha.  No one is reforming claim rejections because that would cut into profits.  It seems to me as though they are already getting a premium.  And any additional security costs will raise our own premiums or be covered by even more AI replacing workers/denying claims or all of the above.  No one is going to be concerned about self preservation unless this is not an isolated incident.

Thompson pulled in a cool 10 million in 2023. I joined the Army out of school for 18 thousand. For 555 times the comp, I would willingly take the risk for a year or two, no way the danger is greater. I also see his estate gets about 21 million for his untimely demise. My family might encourage me to take the job…

[Financial.Velociraptor]

[snip] unless this is not an isolated incident.

You folks are even darker than I am.  I saw a meme a couple weeks ago that said something to the effect of "If were to eat just ONE of these billionaire mutha fuckas, the rest would fall in line."  But @jrhampt has just convinced me we actually have to eat least TWO...

[Metalcat]

Who/how do you name an interim CEO in this case?  How do you hire a permanent replacement? 

If the board is doing their job they already have a written succession plan in place for which other senior executive would take over on an interim basis. Of course hiring the next permanent CEO might be slightly tougher given how the last one went out, but with the type of compensation these folks get I bet there's plenty of people who would happily take the job and just insist on a company-paid security detail.

There are plenty of folks who willingly do life-threatening work for a heck of a lot less than insurance company CEOs make.

The company will just shrug, the replacement will probably gleefully step in, but yeah, might take the death threats a little more seriously than their predecessor.

I can't really see a pathway by which this changes much of anything. I could be wrong, but big, shocking things don't seem to change much anymore.

[Just Joe]

Who/how do you name an interim CEO in this case?  How do you hire a permanent replacement? 

If the board is doing their job they already have a written succession plan in place for which other senior executive would take over on an interim basis. Of course hiring the next permanent CEO might be slightly tougher given how the last one went out, but with the type of compensation these folks get I bet there's plenty of people who would happily take the job and just insist on a company-paid security detail.

Can CEO identities be protected information?