[dropcap size=big]O[/dropcap]n a Friday morning in October 2008, Apple shares suddenly plunged 10 per cent in 10 minutes. The cause: An online report claiming that the tech company’s then CEO, Steve Jobs, had suffered a heart attack. It soon became clear that the report was false, and Apple’s share price quickly recovered. Clearly, the state of a CEO’s well-being is intertwined with that of his or her company – in the eyes of investors, at least.
Which is why we were not surprised when it recently came to light that Apple spent US$700,000 (S$980,000) last year to keep CEO Timothy Cook out of harm’s way. Frankly, this is chump change for the world’s most valuable company, whose market value recently hit a high of US$740 billion. What is interesting is that Cook’s security arrangements cost substantially less than that of the top executives of several other companies. Here’s a look at the security details for top head honchos.
What some prominent US Companies paid to ensure their CEO’s safety last year:
Some of the tasks that personal bodyguards are hired to perform. Unfortunately, last we heard, they still can’t take down the perpetrators of market-shaking malicious rumours.
US$22,000 per week
How much it would cost (conservatively) for a team of four rotating security agents and a two-man back-up team to be deployed in the event of a heightened threat or emergency, says Alan Schissel, A founder and CEO of Integrated Security Services, a private investigation and executive security firm.
US$385,000
The amount that Berkshire Hathaway spent on Warren Buffett’s personal security last year, compared to what Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie spent on their home security system alone (US$235 million). September 2007 : When an intruder rang the doorbell at Warren Buffett’s home in Omaha, Nebraska, and got into a scuffle with Buffett’s security guard. This incident has been touted as a reason that prompted the US$385,000 expenditure by Berkshire Hathaway for its CEO, who had otherwise been drawing the same annual salary for almost 20 years.