Elon Musk has said his security needs to be “enhanced” after the assassination of Trump’s aide and far-right activist Charlie Kirk raised concerns about threats to high-profile figures. The Tesla CEO responded to a shareholder’s call for more protection, highlighting that the company spent $3.3 million on his security from January 2024 to February 2025. While that marks an increase from the $2.9 million spent the previous year, it remains far below what other tech companies spend on their leaders.
For those unaware, Charlie Kirk was a far-right political activist and an aide to Donald Trump. He co-founded the organization Turning Point USA, a nonprofit organization he started in 2012 when he was just 18 years old.
Tesla investor Alexandra Merz, known on social media as TeslaBoomerMama, urged the company’s board to boost Musk’s security budget, posting a chart of the current spending.
“Tesla and the Board, can you please increase this drastically? We wrote you a shareholder letter more than a year ago,” Merz wrote on X.
Elon Musk replied directly: “Definitely need to enhance security.”
Reports say Musk uses Gavin de Becker and Associates for personal protection and has also set up his own firm, Foundation Security. Some of the costs are split across his businesses, including Tesla and SpaceX.
How other tech companies spend on CEO's security
Tesla’s $3.3 million annual spending on Musk’s protection is dwarfed by Meta’s $23.4 million for CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Apple spends about $820,000 each year on Tim Cook’s security, while Amazon spends $1.6 million to protect founder Jeff Bezos.
Despite the smaller budget, Musk has faced rising threats, particularly linked to his political views. A Teslarati report noted that threats against him spiked on platforms such as Reddit and Bluesky following Kirk’s killing.
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