The shocking killing this week of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson has shined a spotlight on the security concerns faced by corporate leaders and the substantial costs their companies pay to protect them. For example, Meta (META) spends as much as $24.4 million annually on personal security and travel for CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other top executives. The company said in its latest proxy statement that such costs are appropriate and necessary “given the threat profile.” Tesla (TSLA) has also spent millions providing security for its CEO, Elon Musk, who has become increasingly concerned about attacks on his health in recent years. The electric car maker spent $2.4 million last year to hire a security firm for its billionaire leader.
Thompson, who was murdered earlier this week in New York City, was the head of a UnitedHealth insurance subsidiary. The parent company did not disclose any details about executive security benefits in its 2023 proxy statement, but noted that UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty was required to use official business during business travel for security reasons. machine.
Security costs at S&P 500 companies have risen sharply in recent years, according to Equilar, a company that researches executive data compensation. The median security expense benefit doubled from $47,643 in 2021 to $98,069 in 2023, and the share of companies offering such arrangements to designated executives increased by 23.5% to 27.5%.
Here’s how much some of the world’s largest tech companies spend on the security of their top executives:
Yuan
- Market cap: $1.6 trillion
- Administrative security spending: $24.4 million
Meta, the top S&P 500 company that spends the most on executive security benefits, spent most of its $24.4 million in security-related spending in 2023 on Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg. In addition to a $14 million pre-tax allowance to cover additional personal security costs for Zuckerberg and his family, he also received $9.4 million for expenses related to his residence and personal security during personal travel. Meta also paid security fees to several other executives, including $903,139 for Chief Operating Officer Javier Olivan.
- Market cap: $2.2 trillion
- Administrative security spending: $6.8 million
In 2023, Google (GOOGL) parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) spent nearly $6.8 million to provide personal security services to Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. That makes the technology company the second-largest spender on security benefits among S&P 500 companies this year, according to Equilar.
Amazon
- Market cap: $2.4 trillion
- Administrative security spending: $2.7 million
Amazon (AMZN) for Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy, Douglas Herrington and Adam Selipsky in 2023 In total, nearly $2.7 million was spent on security arrangements for senior executives. Security costs for the company’s founder and executive chairman Bezos totaled $1.6 million, and security costs for CEO Jassy totaled $986,164. The company also paid $22,631 for Amazon Worldwide Stores CEO Herrington and $51,636 for Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Selipsky.
NVIDIA
- Market cap: $3.5 trillion
- Administrative security spending: $2.5 million
Nvidia (NVDA) paid its CEO Jensen Huang nearly $2.5 million in fiscal 2024. The fees included Huang’s $2.2 million in home security and consulting fees, as well as security monitoring services and car and driver services.
apple
- Market cap: $3.6 trillion
- Administrative security spending: $2.4 million
Apple Inc. (AAPL) spent about $820,000 last year on personal security services for Chief Executive Tim Cook. The company also spent more than $1.6 million on air travel for Cook, which included hourly flying fees, fuel, departure and landing fees. Due to Apple’s “global profile” and the “high visibility of Mr. Cook’s role as CEO,” Cook must use a private jet for all business and personal travel.
Tesla
- Market cap: $1.2 trillion
- Administrative security spending: $2.4 million
In December 2023, Tesla paid a security company owned by its CEO Musk to provide services to Musk himself. Those expenses totaled $2.4 million in 2023, and were about $500,000 as of February this year, according to Tesla filings. Musk posted on his social platform X in July this year that two people had tried to kill him in the past eight months, but were eventually arrested.
Microsoft
- Market cap: $3.3 trillion
- Administrative security spending: $58,000
In fiscal 2024, Microsoft (MSFT) spent $58,291 on security-related expenses and personal travel expenses for its CEO Satya Nadella. Providing such security services allows senior executives to “focus on their responsibilities to Microsoft while mitigating security threats, thereby reducing risk to our business,” the company said in a recent filing.
