America’s biggest banks are spending significantly more trying to keep their chief executives safe after the murder in December 2024 of the boss of UnitedHealthcare. According to the latest securities filings, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo all beefed up security for their CEOs last year, with Wells Fargo increasing the amount it spends by almost 700 per cent.
The rise comes after Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot dead outside Manhattan’s New York Hilton, where he was due to speak at a conference. In July last year a lone gunman also killed four people in an office block on Park Avenue, home to the global headquarters of Blackstone. The investment firm later confirmed the death of Wesley LePatner, a high-ranking executive in the group’s property investment business.
Glen Kucera, president at Allied Universal Enhanced Protection Services, which owns private security company G4S, told The Banker: “Violence towards company leaders is on the rise. Societal polarisation and economic instability are contributing to more unpredictable — and even indiscriminate — violence. Executives are facing more exposure than ever before and security programmes have had to evolve to keep up.”
A proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in March showed that Goldman Sachs spent $95,569 on security arrangements for its CEO David Solomon last year, an increase of almost 20 per cent compared to 2024. It also spent $68,603 on CFO Denis Coleman, a jump of almost 100 per cent on the previous year.
The bank said in the proxy statement: “We do not consider these security measures to be personal benefits but rather business-related necessities due to the high-profile standing of these executives and the firm’s evaluation of the threat environment related to them.”
Meanwhile, a proxy statement filed by Wells Fargo revealed the US lender spent more than half a million dollars on security arrangements for its CEO Charlie Scharf last year. In 2024 the bank spent just $70,448.
It said in the filing: “[We spent] $555,638 for physical and digital security at or near his residences . . . in light of Mr Scharf’s public role as well as to enhance his productivity and protect confidential company information.”
According to the 2025 World Security Report, more than two-fifths of chief security officers said the likelihood of violence against executives has increased over the past three years, while 73 per cent of companies experienced some form of misinformation or disinformation campaign over the past five years. Kucera said: “Many boards have a genuine reason to be concerned and are responding to a quantifiable increase in risk — not just reacting to fear or a one-off event.”
