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The number of S&P 500 companies providing security and protection benefits has nearly doubled since 2020, a report shows, as corporations respond to growing safety threats to senior executives.
Data from research group ISS-Corporate shows the number of S&P 500 companies providing security benefits to top corporate leadership rose to 22.5 per cent of component companies in 2024, the most recent year available, from 12 per cent in 2020.
The increase pre-dated the killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, who was fatally shot in an early-morning attack in December 2024 while in New York for an investor conference. UnitedHealth Group spent nearly $1.7mn on security for its top executives that year, according to its 2025 proxy statement.
The US has seen a rise in acts of violence against public figures, including the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump and the shooting at a New York office building last year that killed Blackstone senior executive Wesley LePatner.
“Based on conversations that we are having and the environment more broadly, our expectation is that both the prevalence and the amount provided in terms of security benefits is likely to increase for fiscal 2025,” said Stephanie Hollinger, an associate director at ISS-Corporate.
Jeremy Baumann, chief executive of Corporate Security Advisors, said Thompson’s death had caused more companies to assess their corporate security protocols.
“There has been a sharp increase in people who are willing to make threats, especially across social media, than we ever had in the past . . . people are more willing to air their grievances and act on those grievances,” Baumann said.
Walmart disclosed for the first time in its 2025 proxy that it engaged a third-party company to perform a security assessment for its chief executive, Doug McMillon, and ultimately spent $76,779 on his personal safety. A company representative did not respond to a request for comment.
Amazon spent $1.1mn on security for chief executive Andy Jassy, up from $986,164 in the previous year, and $1.6mn for chair and founder Jeff Bezos in 2024. Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg received even more, totalling $10.4mn as well as an additional $14mn to cover additional costs for him and his family’s personal security in fiscal year 2024.
Johnson & Johnson disclosed last year that it had conducted an internal security assessment because of “increased threats”. Its chief executive is now required to use an armed driver and a secure company vehicle for all business and personal travel. The policy came into effect December 2024, the same month that Thompson was killed. Broadcom also disclosed for the first time in 2025 that it had established a security programme for its chief executive.
Healthcare company Centene Corporation said in its 2025 proxy statement that its $200,000 outlay for personal security benefits for executives was due to the “range of security issues” that healthcare executives have encountered.
In their own research on the subject, The Conference Board and Esgauge found that the amount of money that companies spent on personal and home security was heavily weighted to the top 10 per cent of spenders with public-facing executives.
The research groups found that the median expenditure for personal and home security for S&P 500 companies was $76,032 in the 2025 disclosure year but was $1.6mn for the top 10 per cent of spenders in the index. Communication services and information technology remain the top sectors that spend the most on executive security because of their vulnerability to cyber, geopolitical and political risks.
“Sectors that are more visible and high risk, where the CEOs are more exposed, tend to spend more on security,” said Ariane Marchis-Mouren, a senior researcher at The Conference Board.