The numbers from US proxy season are in, and they tell a clear story for the protection industry. Equilar's April analysis of S&P 500 filings (through 7 April) found 37.8% of companies provided security perquisites to executives in 2025. Median spend reached $130,468 — up roughly 20% year on year, and more than double the 2021 figure.
The growth is coming from two directions: established programmes are getting bigger, and companies that never disclosed security spend are starting. Medtronic, Walmart and TJX all reported programmes for the first time in this cycle, per Equilar. At the top end, Blackstone disclosed nearly $13.5m — the largest reported total.
The driver hasn't changed: the threat environment. Reporting in Security Magazine collects the survey data — 42% of corporate security chiefs at large global firms reported a significant rise in threats of violence against their executives over the past two years, and a Goldman Sachs report from October 2025 found a quarter of companies now provide personal security for the CEO, up around 60% in two years.
What has changed structurally is how boards treat the line item. Security spend is increasingly framed in filings as risk management rather than perk — disclosed, benchmarked and scrutinised by investors.
That has consequences for providers. Corporate work increasingly arrives via compensation committees and general counsel as well as the CSO, so expect procurement to ask for documentation, benchmarking and audit trails alongside capability. Residential and family coverage is where much of the new money lands. Firms that can present provision in governance language — defensible scope, recorded decisions, measurable coverage — are positioned to win the work. This spend is now visible to shareholders, and it is being bought accordingly.
