Business

Does a video show UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson talking about working with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi? No, that's not true: The Brian Thompson in the video is a different person. The Thompson in the video is an entrepreneur; the footage is from a speech he gave at a workshop in 2012. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…

Does a video on social media offer any evidence of a program that gives people $20,000 so they can use the money to pay off their credit card debt? No, that's not true: The clip only showed two images of some bank account transactions of unknown origin. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told Lead Stories there is no such program…

Did UnitedHealth Group continue with its annual Investor Conference presentations even after learning a key executive had been shot to death outside the conference hotel? No, that's not true: A Threads post provided no documentary or witness evidence to prove the company "went ahead with" its investor conference as the post states. While it's not clear exactly when the company…

Was there ballot cheating during a bomb threat search when the vote-counting livestream went offline in Orange County, California, in November 2024? No, that's not true: The Orange County registrar of voters told Lead Stories that "the ballots always remained secure under the custody of the Sheriff's Department." There's also no evidence of fraud at any time during the ballot-counting…

Was a post on Substack the real letter of explanation by Luigi Mangione, the man who has been arrested in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson? No, that's not true: A Substack spokesperson told Lead Stories the post was removed for violating the website's guidelines, "which prohibit impersonation." The taken-down post was a long story about a mother's illness…

Did Luigi Mangione schedule a YouTube video titled "The Truth" to be published in anticipation of his arrest? No, that's not true: The YouTube account that published a video titled "The Truth" was impersonating Luigi Mangione, the man who has been charged in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The YouTube PR team told Lead Stories that the account…

Did tech billionaire Elon Musk publish a post in defense of insurance companies, saying that those corporations can act "ruthlessly" because of their "duty to shareholders to maximize profits"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no record of the purported post on Musk's X account. The fake screenshot of the entry appears to have originated from a meme website.…

Did Burger King's X account post "We don't snitch" in response to the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO being recognized by a McDonald's employee? No, that's not true: Burger King's public relations confirmed to Lead Stories that this post was made up. Also, the fake post contained the words "Retweets" and "Quote Tweets," words no longer used since Elon…

Are social media posts about an "injured" man with dementia who showed up at someone's house real? No, that's not true: Photographs included in the post show a man who was attacked in 2018 in Los Angeles. Several posts falsely claimed the man in the photographs was found in states including Georgia, New Mexico, Washington and California. These posts are…

Did UnitedHealthcare list a job opening for the CEO position on LinkedIn shortly after former CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot? No, that's not true: A UnitedHealthcare communications director told Lead Stories that a screenshot the supposed job listing was "fake." Lead Stories did not find any evidence that this was an actual listing. As of December 9, 2024, there…

Was UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson about to testify against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for insider trading before his death on December 4, 2024? No, that's not true: There's no evidence connecting his death to insider trading allegations involving Pelosi, nor has Pelosi been accused of such a crime. However, in May 2024, Thompson was named in an insider trading…

Are paid subscribers of Walmart+ the only customers who can use the self-checkout lanes at all U.S. Walmart stores as of December 6, 2024? No, that's not true: Self-checkout lanes are not exclusively and universally reserved for only Walmart+ members all of the time. Walmart representatives told Lead Stories that some stores "may adjust the use of staffed and self-checkouts…

Did Tesla CEO Elon Musk announce that his company had developed an aluminum-ion battery with 15-minute charging? No, that's not true: There is no evidence on the company's website or Musk's social media platforms of any such announcement as of December 6, 2024. In fact, Tesla continues to manufacture and refine its 4680 lithium-ion batteries at a plant near Corpus…

Did Elon Musk tweet that the "world would not be able to function" without CEOs after the murder of Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare Group? No, that's not true: The tweet is fake. Searches of Musk's X account and archived versions of it show the post was fabricated. A screenshot of the purported X post (archived here) appeared…

Does a video montage show how factories in India make artificial rice out of recycled plastic? No, that's not true: These videos are real, but what the factories are making has been misrepresented. Some video clips show plastic being recycled to make plastic pellets for use in other plastic products -- but not in food. Other video clips show the…

Does a video prove that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bought a hotel in Courchevel, France, for 88 million euros ($93 million) in November 2024? No, that's not true: The video was based on a screenshot of a fake website mimicking the online page of a currently closed hotel. The current owner of the hotel described the posts sharing the video…

Have 83 deaths been caused or attributed to fires caused by spontaneous Tesla explosions, as implied in a meme? No, that's not true: The figures in the meme come from an online database that compiles news reports and government data but does not verify or confirm these reports. According to that database, 83 deaths involved a Tesla car fire, but…

Are social media posts about a missing boy named Grayson Costain diagnosed with autism real? No, that's not true: Lead Stories has debunked many similar stories about a missing child in various locations before. These bait-and-switch posts use an emotional tale about a child supposedly lost in various locations across the U.S. to draw an audience, then flip to display…

Will Facebook users be able to answer a survey and receive a pair of UGG boots for $10? No, that's not true: The senior PR manager for UGG told Lead Stories this was not true. The survey takes users to two websites, neither of whose URLs are affiliated with UGG or their parent company Deckers. On the first website, there…

Did Wendy's, Olive Garden and 13 other restaurant companies named in a social media post donate to Donald Trump in the 2024 election? No, that's not true: None of the political action committees for the restaurants listed in the social media post donated to Trump in the 2024 election, according to federal election reports publicly available as of this writing.…