The shocking killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson this week shined a light on the security issues facing corporate leaders and the huge costs their companies pay to protect them. Meta (META), for example, spends $24.4 million annually on personal security and travel for its CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other top executives. Such costs are justified and necessary “due to the threat situation,” the company said in its latest proxy statement. Tesla ( TSLA ), too, is spending millions on the security of its CEO Elon Musk, who in recent years has become increasingly concerned about attacks on his welfare. The EV maker spent $2.4 million last year to hire a security firm for its billionaire leader.
Thompson, who was killed earlier this week in New York City, ran an insurance subsidiary of UnitedHealth. The parent company did not disclose details about the senior security benefits in its 2023 proxy statement, although it noted that UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty is required to use corporate planes during business travel for security reasons.
Security costs at all S&P 500 companies have risen sharply in recent years, according to data from Equilar, a top-data compensation research firm. The average value of safety net benefits doubled from $47,643 in 2021 to $98,069 in 2023, and the share of companies offering these programs to senior executives increased from 23.5 percent to 27.5 percent.
Here's a look at what some of the world's biggest tech companies are spending on security for their top executives:
Meta
- Total market cap: $1.6 trillion
- Executive defense spending: $24.4 million
Meta, which spends the most of the S&P 500 on high-end security perquisites, spent most of its security-related expenses of $24.4 million in 2023 on CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He received $9.4 million in expenses related to personal security where he lives and travels, in addition to a pretax allocation of $14 million to cover additional security costs for Zuckerberg and his family. Meta also paid security for a number of other executives, including $903,139 for chief operating officer Javier Olivan.
- Total market: $2.2 trillion
- Spending on advanced security: $6.8 million
In 2023, Google's ( GOOGL ) parent company Alphabet ( GOOGL ) spent nearly $6.8 million on personal security services for Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet. This makes the technology company the second largest S&P 500 fund for the year in securities benefits, according to Equilar.
Amazon
- Total market cap: $2.4 trillion
- Executive defense spending: $2.7 million
Amazon (AMZN) spent a total of nearly $2.7 billion in 2023 on security programs for executives including Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy, Douglas Herrington and Adam Selipsky. Security costs totaled $1.6 million for Bezos, the company's founder and chairman, and $986,164 for CEO Jassy. The company also spent $22,631 in security for Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, and $51,636 for Selipsky, CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Nvidia
- Total market cap: $3.5 trillion
- Executive defense spending: $2.5 million
Nvidia ( NVDA ) has issued nearly $2.5 million in 2024 cash to CEO Jensen Huang. These costs include $2.2 million in housing security and consulting fees for Huang, in addition to security monitoring services and car and driver services.
an apple
- Total market cap: $3.6 trillion
- Executive defense spending: $2.4 million
Apple ( AAPL ) spent nearly $820,000 last year on personal security services for its CEO Tim Cook. The company also spent more than $1.6 million on Cook's air travel expenses, an amount that includes hourly flight costs, fuel costs, transportation costs and landing costs. Because of Apple's “global profile” and the “highly visible nature of Mr. Cook as CEO,” Cook is required to use private jets for all business and personal travel.
Tesla
- Total market cap: $1.2 trillion
- Executive defense spending: $2.4 million
In December 2023, Tesla paid a security company owned by its CEO Elon Musk to provide services to Musk himself. These costs reached $2.4 million in 2023 and about $500,000 in February of this year, according to Tesla's documents. Musk said in July on his social media site X that two different people tried to kill him eight months ago before they were arrested.
Microsoft
- Total market: $3.3 trillion
- Expenditure on executive protection: $58,000
In fiscal year 2024, Microsoft ( MSFT ) budgeted $58,291 for security-related expenses and personal travel expenses for its CEO Satya Nadella. Providing such security services enables senior executives to “focus on their work at Microsoft while mitigating security threats and, therefore, reducing risk to our business,” the company said in a recent filing.
