Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) and Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) among their peers spends the most on securing their top executives, a report from Fortune reveals.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was by far the biggest spender in 2013, the publication’s Claire Zillman noted. Zillman, citing numbers from an Equilar report, said that the electronic commerce behemoth shelled out a total of $1.6 million to secure its founder and boss Jeff Bezos.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), in a filing last year to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that the $1.6 million, which it said was an approximate aggregate incremental cost for securing Bezos including buildings he is in and places he is travelling to, is in their opinion “reasonable and necessary” and is beneficial to the company. Security is surely one of the benefits of Bezos’ stressful job.
If Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s cost seems steep, Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s $1.5 million spending for Larry Ellison – founder, former CEO and now Executive Chairman and Chief Technology Officer – is not far behind.
Also in an SEC filing, Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) said the costs went to securing Ellison’s residence. The company said that it believes “these security costs are appropriate and necessary business expenses” particularly given Ellison’s status and importance to the company.
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) said that Ellison purchased security equipment personally for his homes while the company shouldered costs for security staffing.
Meanwhile, Bob Iger also appears to be a well-protected CEO as Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS)’s security costs for their boss totaled $584,075.
Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) said that it pays the cost of security services and equipment for Iger “in an amount that the Board of Directors believes is reasonable in light of his security needs”. The entertainment giant also said that in the interest of security, Iger is required to use the company’s corporate aircraft for all travel.
After Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), Berkshire Hathaway comes next with shelling out $385,606 securing Warren Buffet. FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) is also said to have spent $320,428 in 2013 for Fred Smith’s security.
Brett Barakett’s Tremblant Capital owned 341,062 Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares by the end of the third quarter of 2014, a 15% increase in the firm’s holdings in the e-commerce giant compared to its holdings in the preceding quarter.
Meanwhile, Charles De Vaulx’s International Value Advisers owned about 7.05 million Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shares by the end of September.
Also by the end of the third quarter of last year, Tom Gayner’s Markel Gayner Asset Management owned about 1.51 million Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) shares.
