--- title: "UnitedHealthcare’s New CEO Announcement Draws a Frenzy of Dark Humor" description: "UnitedHealthcare has just promoted one of its C-Suiters to CEO — and the dark humor is already pouring in. " date: "2025-01-25" modified: "2025-01-25" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/unitedhealthcare-new-ceo-dark-humor" categories: - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "brian thompson" - "insurance" - "luigi mangione" - "unitedhealthcare" --- # UnitedHealthcare’s New CEO Announcement Draws a Frenzy of Dark Humor ![UnitedHealthcare has just promoted one of its C-Suiters to CEO — and the dark humor is already pouring in. ]() *\Image: Curtis Means / Pool / Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty / Nintendo / Futurism\* UnitedHealthcare has just promoted one of its C-Suiters to CEO — and the dark humor is already pouring in. Six weeks after [Brian Thompson was gunned down]() in the streets of Manhattan, [UHC announced that it was naming Tim Noel](), who formerly ran the insurance company's Medicare and retirement department, to the chief executive role. Almost as soon as that news dropped, social media lit up with gallows humor about the position's deadly history. "Imagine getting that promotion?" [wrote]() one X-formerly-Twitter user wrote. "I'm thinking Tim Noel may just be the bravest CEO in all of America." https://www.twitter.com/ReadThePint/status/1882541798901547175 Others were far more pointed in their welcomes to the longtime UHC executive. "I don't think it's THAT interesting that Tim Noel, new CEO for UnitedHealth, lives in Minneapolis," a Bluesky user [quipped](). "Minneapolis is where the UnitedHealth headquarters are located, so it just makes sense that he, and other CEOs, would live there, in Minneapolis, which as everyone on earth knows, is in Minnesota!" On the [Eat the Rich subreddit](), meanwhile, the vibe was nothing short of feral. "Looks scrawny," [wrote]() a user whose display image features [suspected Thompson assassin Luigi Mangione]() dressed like a saint. "Needs fattening up like the last one. Then it’ll be good eating!" Obviously, nobody is *actually* calling for any harm to Noel, who has worked at UHC since 2007. As with Thompson's murder, these jokes instead [highlight the rampant frustration]() Americans have with the gatekeepers of their healthcare — a bitter resentment that [burst to the forefront of the national conversation ]()after Thompson's assassination last month. That anger was on full display in other posts and [comments accusing Noel]() of being a "[serial killer]()." Given that he likely ran UHC's Medicare department during at least part of the period when the company nearly [tripled its post-acute services denial rate]() from 8.7 to 22.7 percent for Medicare patients, they might not be that far off the money, at least technically speaking. **More on Mangione:** [*Americans Flood Chinese App RedNote, Discover Its Users Are Obsessed With Luigi Mangione*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()