What it costs to guard the world’s richest CEOs

Among the generous perks afforded to top executives, security costs will be among the most costly, especially for high-level business leaders. These security costs include every part from home surveillance to private bodyguards and security consulting, which will be costly for firms depending on the chief.

Bill Herzog, CEO of Arizona-based LionHeart Security Services, said Assets that it is vital for firms to speculate in protecting their CEOs, especially once they’re among the many richest people on the earth, like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla’s Elon Musk. Herzog, whose company has already provided security for politicians and other high-profile individuals, said most of these distinguished CEOs could possibly be particularly targeted. And if something were to occur to them, the corporate could suffer financially and reputationally, he added.

“When you’re dealing with someone who’s worth millions or billions of dollars and runs an entire company, there’s a real possibility of kidnapping, extortion and an attempt on his life,” Herzog said.

For 24/7 security, which requires specially trained security professionals and dedicated resources, Herzog said his company charges $60 or more per hour, which could add as much as a complete cost of two guards exceeding $1 million per yr.

However, some firms pay far more to guard their CEOs. Here are among the tech firms that pay probably the most:

Meta

Meta pays greater than thrice as much as the following tech company on the list to guard its longtime CEO and founder, Mark Zuckerberg. In 2023, the corporate spent a complete of $23.4 million on Zuckerberg’s personal security, including $9.4 million in direct security costs and one other $14 million as an annual pre-tax allowance intended to “cover additional costs related to the personal security of Mr. Zuckerberg and his family.”

In recent years, Meta has spent much more to guard Zuckerberg: According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the associated fee of his personal security in 2022 was over $24 million and $25 million, respectively.

The company paid these high security payments “for the benefit of the company because Mr. Zuckerberg is so important to Meta,” the filing states. Zuckerberg is especially in danger due to his position, the corporate argues.

“We believe Mr. Zuckerberg’s role puts him in a unique position: He is synonymous with meta and, as a result, negative feelings toward our company are directly associated with and often transferred to Mr. Zuckerberg,” the corporate wrote in its SEC filing.

Fortunately, Zuckerberg can be an enormous fan of mixed martial arts.

alphabet

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai talks lots about cybersecurity, but his personal security can be a top priority for his company. In 2023, the tech giant spent $6.8 million on Pichai’s personal security, in keeping with an SEC filing.

The company also pays for an organization automotive and the usage of “non-commercial aircraft,” comparable to a non-public jet.

Tesla

Tesla’s Elon Musk is not any stranger to the highlight, and that is reflected in his personal security bill. According to an SEC filing, Tesla paid $2.4 million to a security company owned by Musk for security services in 2023, plus one other $500,000 through February of this yr.

The bombastic CEO’s high security costs are apparently very obligatory. In July, Musk said in a post on X that two different people tried to kill him within the last eight months.

“They were arrested with weapons about a 20-minute drive from Tesla headquarters in Texas,” Musk wrote.

After the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump in July, Musk considered taking his security into his own hands.

“Maybe it’s time to build that flying metal armor [sic],” Musk said in a post on the time.

NVIDIA

Despite being certainly one of the star CEOs currently, Nvidia spends comparatively less on CEO Jensen Huang’s security than its competitors. In fiscal 2024, the corporate spent about $2.2 million on residential security and consulting fees for Huang, plus a whole bunch of hundreds on security monitoring services and automotive and driver services, in keeping with an SEC filing.

While Huang once said that Jackie Chan would best suited to play him in a movieHuang definitely doesn’t have Chan’s martial arts skills.

Apple

Even though Tim Cook will not be quite as famous as his predecessor, the legendary Steve Jobs, he continues to be Apple’s most successful CEO and the corporate wants to maintain him in the corporate for a few years to come back.

Apple paid $820,309 in 2023 for expenses related to Tim Cook’s security. While that is not a pittance, it’s still lower than the $1.6 million the corporate paid for the usage of his private jet.