December 10, 2024 Estimated Reading Time: 4m 13s |
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That sound you hear is writers at Tubi, Netflix and the Law & Order franchise falling over each other to produce the first ripped-from-the-headlines version of the first compelling news story in weeks that's not about a questionable Trump cabinet nomination. The case of Luigi Mangione, whom law enforcement agencies now identify as the suspect in the homicide of Brian Thompson, the chief executive officer of insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, is shaping up to be this generation's O.J. Simpson case. This time around, the variables are a little different. Unlike in Simpson's case, in which the ex-football star was accused and tried in the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Thompson and Mangione were mostly unknown to the general public until recently. The manhunt for Thompson's killer was short and relatively undramatic. And, most importantly, instead of race playing a central role in the story, the Thompson-Mangione saga is playing out to center class divisions. Thompson reportedly earned a little more than $10 million per year with stocks and other incentives, making him obviously quite wealthy but nowhere in the stratosphere of top-earning CEOs in America. On the other end of the spectrum is Mangione, whom social media users have painted as Robin Hood meets The Wire's Omar for doling out justice to a corporate leech preying on the sickest and weakest among us. That may be the vibe Mangione was going for but, by all accounts, like Robin of Locksley, Luigi grew up among privilege in a wealthy and politically connected family. This week, we'll catch you up on the latest in the case — if you just happen to be living under a rock or are still on a post-election news sabbatical — and share some recent data about trends in executive compensation. Let's talk about it. |
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Luigi Mangione was arrested Monday as a “strong person of interest” in the brazen Manhattan killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO after a McDonald’s employee in Pennsylvania alerted authorities. Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco, and his last known address is in Honolulu. He was charged with weapons, forgery and other charges in Pennsylvania on Monday. He was arraigned and ordered held without bail. A three-page, handwritten document found in Mangione’s possession included a line in which he claimed to have acted alone, according to a law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. “To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone,” the document said, according to the official. It also had a line that said, “I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.” Mangione also had voluminous writings and large sums of cash on him at the time he was taken into custody. |
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Go to jail. Do not pass Go. |
In 1904, a woman from Illinois submitted a patent application for a new board game. The applicant, Lizzie Magie, was the daughter of an anti-slavery newspaper publisher who covered the famous 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates. Magie wrote in her patent application that, “Each time a player goes around the board he is supposed to have performed so much labor upon Mother Earth, for which after passing the beginning-point he receives his wages, one hundred dollars.” Not surprisingly, the game about an obscure political-economic theory of single taxation did not sweep the nation. However, a man named Charles Darrow would take Magie's idea to create the game we know as Monopoly, which lets everyone be the CEO of their own little real-estate empire and delight in driving their friends and loved ones into abject poverty (and possibly even jail). Get ready for the holidays! Magie's story was mostly lost to history, but you can read more about her life and the inspiration behind her game at the New York Times. |
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A backpack believed to belong to Magione was reportedly uncovered in New York City and contained several pieces of the iconic multi-colored board game money. Here are a few facts about CEOs in America: - There are 211,230 chief-executive officers in the U.S. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- The mean annual wage for CEOs is $258,900; the median is $206,680 (BLS)
- The top earning CEOs by industry are spectator sports ($735,020); health and personal care retailers ($630,750); and motion picture and video ($513,800)
- The states where CEOs earn the most are New Jersey ($449,370) and Oregon ($371,290)
- CEO pay grew by 1,085% between 1978 and 2023, while typical worker pay rose only 24% (Economic Policy Institute)
- In 2023, CEOs earned 290 times the average worker's salary, compared to 21 times in 1965 (EPI)
- CEO pay trends strongly correlate with stock market performance. Stock-related pay made up 77.6% of CEO compensation in 2023 (EPI)
- The stock market fell 44% (1965–1978), yet CEO pay rose 80% during the same period; CEO pay skyrocketed in the 1990s, peaking in 2000 before stabilizing (EPI)
Bonus: In the home insurance industry, insurers are losing money paying out claims, much of it related to climate-related disasters, but still raking in historic profits. Revisit this story from Reckon's Chris Harress, where he explains how that's happening. |
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As always free to respond to this email with your thoughts, concerns, data points and tips. Peace!
— RL |
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Ryan "R.L." Nave is Reckon's editor-in-chief. Prior to joining Reckon, he served as editor-in-chief of Mississippi Today, now the state’s largest newsroom. Nave was also an editor and reporter at the Jackson (Miss.) Free Press and a staff writer for Illinois Times in the capital, Springfield. He's also been an independent journalist, his work appearing on Serial/The New York Times, Ebony, The Root, The Source and other local and national publications.
His reporting has received dozens of state and national journalism awards. He has led teams whose work garnered local, state and national journalism awards, including the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Journalism and an Edward R. Murrow Award. He was a 2019 McGraw Business Reporting fellow at City University New York and completed fellowships at the University of Colorado-Boulder and Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
He served as president of the Jackson, Miss., chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists and is currently chairman of the board for the Jackson-based Center for Ideas, Equity & Transformative Change. |
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