Being rich and famous comes with perks such as private jets, luxury homes and expensive vacations. But there’s another side to being in the spotlight that many people don't think about – the need for constant security. And when you're one of the world's most well-known billionaires, that protection can come at an eye-popping cost.
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Regarding keeping billionaires safe, one name stands above the rest: Mark Zuckerberg. Fortune reported that in 2023, Meta META spent $23.4 million to keep its CEO and founder safe. To put that in perspective, that's almost 10 times more than what Tesla TSLA paid to protect Elon Musk during the same year. If you thought Musk’s high-profile lifestyle came with a big security bill, Zuckerberg's costs are on a whole different level.
Of the $23.4 million, $9.4 million was spent directly on security services for Zuckerberg and another $14 million was paid as an annual allowance to cover other security-related costs for him and his family. The company pays for everything from round-the-clock bodyguards to advanced home monitoring systems. Meta claims that since the CEO is so closely associated with the company, keeping him secure is crucial because if anything were to happen to Zuckerberg, it would directly impact Meta's reputation and business.
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In comparison, Elon Musk's security expenses seem modest. Tesla reportedly spent around $2.4 million in 2023 to keep Musk safe, plus an additional $500,000 for early 2024. That's still a lot of money, but nowhere near Zuckerberg's level. Musk's controversial opinions and habit of being in the public eye certainly put a target on his back, but even he doesn't require the kind of protective detail that Zuckerberg does.
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But Zuckerberg and Musk aren't the only tech giants who need protection. In 2023, Alphabet GOOG, Google’s parent company, spent $6.8 million on security for its CEO, Sundar Pichai. Even Jensen Huang of Nvidia NVDA, the CEO whose chips power some of the world's most advanced tech, had a $2.2 million security tab. For Apple’s AAPL CEO Tim Cook, security costs for the year were around $820,000.
Even though these figures appear quite high, they accurately depict the realities of being a well-known CEO in the modern tech industry. These leaders are in actual danger of being kidnapped, extorted or having their lives threatened. Being at the top comes at a high cost, yet for these companies, protecting their leaders is crucial no matter what.
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