The social media accounts that appear to belong to Luigi Mangione, the man the police have identified as a “strong person of interest” in the killing of Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, seemed to show an interest in self-improvement, clean eating and critiques of contemporary technology.
In the months leading up to the attack, Mr. Mangione, 26, who was arrested in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., on Monday, appeared to maintain accounts on platforms including Facebook, X, Instagram and Goodreads, where he shared quotations, reviewed books he had read and reflected on algorithms, self-help texts and guides to touring Hawaii.
His LinkedIn profile lists two degrees, a master’s and a bachelor’s in computer science completed in four years, from the University of Pennsylvania. An interview with Mr. Mangione on a page on the university’s website that is now unavailable described him as having started a video game research and development club after reaching out to classmates via a Facebook group for students in the class of 2020. From there, according to his LinkedIn profile, he went on to work as a data engineer.
Mr. Mangione’s X account doesn’t include much that would mark him out from any other young man working in tech. He frequently reposted content from a handful of well-known figures, many of whom focus on self-improvement or the negative health consequences of modern consumption.
They include Andrew Huberman, a Stanford neuroscientist who hosts a popular health and science podcast; Tim Urban, a writer and illustrator with a wide readership in Silicon Valley whose most recent book is “What’s Our Problem: A Self-Help Book for Societies”; Tim Ferriss, an entrepreneur known for his book “The 4-Hour Workweek”; Michael Pollan, who writes about the hazards of processed foods; and Jonathan Haidt, a psychologist at New York University who has written about the dangers of smartphone use by young people. (Mr. Urban has already distanced himself from Mr. Mangione, writing on X on Monday afternoon, “Very much not the point of the book.”)
On the book review website Goodreads, Mr. Mangione appeared to track his reading habits. His selections include science fiction (“Ender’s Game”), airport bookstore standbys (“Freakonomics,” “Outliers”) and young adult classics like the “Harry Potter” and “Hunger Games” series.
