Goal exceeds 10 million and Musk protects himself

The big technology companies are reaching such economic power that some of them manage annual operating budgets that exceed the GDP of small countries such as Andorra, Monaco or Luxembourg. Their CEOs have therefore acquired a strategic importance similar to that of heads of state.

Companies like Meta, Tesla, Google and Intel spend real fortunes on keeping their top executives safe.

1 – Mark Zuckerberg (Meta): $10,399,967

Meta’s managers must be really worried about the safety of their CEO and founder, Mark Zuckerberg. In addition to warnings about the high-risk activities to which their top executive is exposed, Meta adds an astronomical allocation to protect Mark Zuckerberg’s safety.

Meta allocated $9,431,139 to reinforce Zuckerberg’s personal security at his residences and during his trips during 2023. To this figure we must add the $968,828 that the millionaire billed Meta for private planes and transportation. Total, $10,399,967.

This figure has been progressively reduced over the last three years. In 2022, more than $14.83 million was paid for security, while in 2021 the figure rose to almost $15.2 million. But that’s not all.

Each year, Meta budgets an allocation of 14 million (in addition to the 9.4 million for the CEO’s personal security) to cover additional costs related to the personal security of Mark Zuckerberg and his family. According to Meta’s public accounts, counting the amount allocated for additional costs (which do not always occur) Meta reserved a total of $24,399,967 to protect the safety of its CEO and founder.

2 – Sundar Pichai (Alphabet): $6.77 million

Some may think that the security of these “star executives” is a bit over the top. However, companies have beefed up security for their top executives in the wake of past incidents. Google beefed up security for Sundar Pichai after a gunman stormed YouTube’s offices, injuring three employees before the woman killed herself.

Since then, Sundar Pichai’s security allocation has continued to increase. As reported by Business Insider, in 2021 Alphabet paid $4,309,583 for the protection of its CEO. In 2023 that figure increased to $6,775,631 intended for the personal security of Alphabet’s CEO, as reflected in the public accounts that the company shares with its shareholders.

3- Marc Beniof (Salesforce): 4.64 million dollars

Salesforce takes the safety of its CEO, Marc Benioff, very seriously, which is why in 2023 it allocated a whopping $3,052,683 just to ensure his safety. Part of this budget is used to reinforce the security of its top executive while he is in the offices or during work trips, as reflected in the public accounts that the company is obliged to present to its shareholders.

According to the software company, in addition to the security budget, $1,593,667 was allocated to cover Benioff’s “work-related travel on private aircraft primarily between the location of his permanent residence and the Company’s headquarters in San Francisco, California, or other business destinations.”

The total amount that Salesforce allocated in 2023 to protect its CEO amounted to $4,646,350.

4 – Jensen Huang (NVIDIA): $2.46 million

NVIDIA is one of the most valuable companies in the world, and Jensen Huang is the architect of this business miracle. Given his strategic importance to the company, NVIDIA has allocated a considerable amount of money to his security.

As a publicly traded company, the annual report to shareholders details that NVIDIA spent $2,229,935 in 2023 for residential security fees and CEO consulting.

In addition, the company spent $234,134 on security checks and private transportation services with a trained driver to maintain the safety of its CEO. The total amount allocated for Jensen Huang’s safety is $2,494,973.

5 – Elon Musk (Tesla): $2.4 million

One of Elon Musk’s common practices among his companies is to have them hire each other during their commercial operations. Thus, Tesla bought ads on X before the company’s shareholders’ meeting vote, and it is common for SpaceX to rent The Boring Company’s private jet for its executives’ trips. Basically, the money changes pockets, but Musk always has it.

Following this strategy, Tesla hired the security services of an Elon Musk company to protect Elon Musk himself, according to what was published by the company itself in a public document. Perhaps, after the alleged threats that, according to Business Insiderits CEO would have recently suffered, the company decides to increase that allocation, or perhaps it is just one more trick from Elon Musk.

According to Tesla “In December 2023, we entered into a service agreement with a security company, owned by Elon Musk, and organized to provide security services related to him, including his responsibilities and work at Tesla. Tesla incurred expenses of approximately $2.4 million for such security services in 2023 and approximately $500,000 through February 2024, representing a portion of the total cost of security services related to Elon Musk.”

6 – Tim Cook (Apple): $2.44 million

In 2023, Apple spent $2,441,777 in protecting the security of its top executive. Of that more than 2.44 million dollars, 820,309 dollars were for Tim Cook’s personal security, while 1,621,468 dollars correspond to the expenses generated by the use of a private jet for the CEO.

As detailed in the document that the company sends to its shareholders, “for reasons of safety and efficiency, the Board of Directors requires that Mr. Cook use private aircraft for all business and personal trips.”

This allocation has increased considerably compared to the budget reserved by Apple for this concept. In 2022, it amounted to $591,196 to cover his personal security, while $767,319 was allocated for the maintenance of the private jet that its CEO must use.

7 – Jeff Bezos (Amazon): $1.6 million

Although Jeff Bezos officially no longer holds the position of CEO, a position occupied by Andy Jassy (which we will find a little further down), Amazon continues to bear the security costs of its founder and largest individual shareholder.

According to a document sent to the SEC, Amazon has been allocating, at least since 2020, a fixed annual budget of 1.6 million dollarss to maintain the personal security of Jeff Bezos, even though he is no longer CEO of the company.

According to the breakdown of this allowance, this amount “represents the approximate aggregate incremental cost to Amazon of the security allowance for Mr. Bezos, in addition to the security allowance provided at commercial facilities and for business travel,” Amazon’s document details.

According to what was published Business Insideramong the security measures that Jeff Bezos would have taken in his offices is the installation of bulletproof panels capable of withstanding bullet impacts from a military assault rifle.

8 – Andy Jassy (Amazon): $975,123

According to the public report on the accounts that Amazon is required to file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company allocated an annual budget of $975,123 for Andy Jassy’s security as CEO, under the designation of “Other compensation”, justifying it as the cost of assigning security for the company’s facilities and during business trips.

This budget has grown considerably in recent years, going from just $35,000 in 2020, when Jassy began taking over from Bezos at the head of the company. In 2021, when Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon and Andrew Jassy took the reins, his security allowance skyrocketed to $592,649.

9 – Pat Gelsinger (Intel): $227,200

Processor manufacturer Intel allocated a budget in 2023 of $227,200 for car transportation and a trained driver for the safety of its CEO. This budget has increased compared to 2022, which was allocated $147,600.

As established in Intel’s public document sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company believes the allocation of these funds is necessary, arguing: “our Board of Directors decided to maintain personal security for Mr. Gelsinger. “We do not consider these additional security measures to be a personal benefit to our executives, but rather appropriate expenses for the benefit of Intel, arising from our executives’ job responsibilities and necessary for their job performance.”

The company also allocated an additional $1,500 for security at the Intel CEO’s primary residence.

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Image | Flikr (Government of India), Nvidia