The Emperor’s New Clothes: How the Cult of the CEO Created Luigi Mangione The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk in December 2024 sparked a deeply unsettling public reaction. Amidst the standard condemnations of violence was a disturbing, swelling chorus of online mockery, deflection, and even outright sympathy for the alleged killer, Luigi Mangione. In the fractured landscape of modern American discourse, Mangione was not universally viewed as a murderer, but by many as a vigilante—a populist avenger striking a blow against a corrupt system. For those of us who study corporate governance, this reaction was as predictable as it was horrifying. It is the logical, bloody culmination of a dangerous illusion that has been carefully cultivated for decades by politicians, media figures, and business magnates themselves: the myth of the CEO as an absolute dictator. In the public imagination, the chief executive officer has been transforme...