As threats to his personal security become more serious, one of the richest men in the world, Elon Musk, has acquired an army of bodyguards that act as a mini secret service. The New York Times reports this.
“Musk, 53, has long portrayed a devil-may-care persona as he travels the globe rubbing shoulders with tycoons, world leaders and celebrities… But in private, he has become increasingly entrenched behind a growing phalanx of armed bodyguards as he grows richer, more famous and more outspoken threats against him have multiplied.” – says the article.
Musk is noted to have improved his own security system in recent years, expanding his already reliable personal security far beyond that of other billionaires. The entrepreneur and his companies Tesla and SpaceX spend millions of dollars a year on these needs, including security firm Gavin de Becker & Associates and others, according to internal Tesla documents. To further protect himself, Musk founded, according to documents and expert data.
His security team now operates like a mini secret service and is protected more like a head of state than a business executive, security experts say. Musk, once flanked by two bodyguards, travels with 20 security specialists who show up to map out escape routes or clear a room before he enters. They often carry guns and have a medic for Musk, code-named Traveler from their security service” – writes the newspaper.
Security threats have made Musk more cautious and his lifestyle more reclusive, three sources close to the billionaire said. At Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting in June, Musk said he believed the threats against him were becoming increasingly insane.
Tesla said it paid $2.4 million for Musk’s security in 2023, and $500,000 in the first two months of that year — more than five times what it spent on average every two months in 2019. From 2015 to 2018, Musk spent an average of $145,000 a month on security, according to invoices and receipts reviewed by The Times.
“For comparison, Apple spent $820,000 last year defending its CEO. Tim Cookwhile Amazon spends $1.6 million a year to protect its founder Jeff BezosOne of the few companies that spends more is Meta.*which spent $23.4 million on security for its chief executive last year. Mark Zuckerberg“, the publication notes.
*Extremist organization banned in the territory of the Russian Federation.
