Facebook spent $4.26m (£2.92m) for providing security to
Mark Zuckerberg in 2015. His security cost $5.6m and $2.65m for the
years 2014 and 2013 respectively, with the total expenses amounting to
$12.5m in the past three years (2013-2015), according to a regulatory
filing.
The disclosure was made by the social network site when the
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) questioned why the costs
were not listed in the filing. Facebook, in its response, said what
exempted the company from reporting the expense was a "business-oriented
security concern" for Zuckerberg.
The company in the filing states that the cost was "to
address safety concerns due to specific threats to his safety arising
directly as a result of his position as our founder, chairman, and CEO".
Facebook's 2015 expense in terms of providing security
exceeds $1.53m that Oracle spent for the protection of its executive
chairman Larry Ellison, while Amazon spent $1.6m for Jeff Bezos in 2015.
For Warren Buffett's security, Berkshire Hathaway paid $370,244. Apple
appears to be spending the lowest amount, at $209,151 on chief executive
officer Tim Cook, according to data shared by Bloomberg.
Zuckerberg is provided
with a home security system and guards protect his house in Mission
district, San Francisco. The security team is led by a former US Secret
Service agent, who earlier protected President Barack Obama.
Peter Martin, the CEO of Afimac Global, a security
consultancy, said home protection systems include camera surveillance,
pressure pads near doors or walkways and dense vegetation or crushed
gravel that produces noise while walking on it.
Christopher Falkenberg, chief executive officer of Insite
Security, said a security director could make an annual income of
$200,000. He said round-the-clock protection requires four guards, which
could cost more than $80,000 a year for a company.
"It is important to keep the boss safe, but there comes a
point — certainly south of the $1m mark — where shareholders deserve a
far clearer explanation of the risks and provisions and the
justification," said Michael Pryce-Jones, CtW Investment Group's
director of corporate governance.
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