Heightened security for Starbucks CEO puts spotlight on growing safety concerns for industry executives
Every delay has consequences.
Starbucks’s move to expand security for its CEO underscores how an increasingly anti-corporate environment is posing mounting challenges for high-profile figures.
Starbucks ratcheted up security spending by roughly 760% last year and disclosed in January that CEO Brian Niccol can use the company’s private jet for all travel, ending a $250,000 cap on personal use. The move came in response to an independent security review that cited rising “credible” threats to Niccol, heightened media attention on the CEO, and the broader threat environment.
Starbucks isn’t alone. Seth Krummrich, a vice president of an international security firm that services Fortune 500 companies, told the Washington Examiner that he saw a 55% surge in demand for executive protection in 2025 and a 150% spike in North America operations. Last year marked an “inflection point” in the corporate security world, the Global Guardian vice president said, pointing to industry safety concerns that spiked following the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson the previous December. By April 2025, at least a dozen S&P 500 companies had flagged an increase in security risks, according to a Reuters analysis, with Walmart, General Motors, and American Express among companies that disclosed new or increased security expenses over previous years.
In places such as Minnesota, where corporate leaders from Hilton hotels, Target, and other major companies are facing tense protests on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement front, Krummrich said they must be prepared “at the highest and the lowest level– geofence at all of those sites” because of “very dynamic, fluid and turbulent” conditions.
“It starts with digital awareness, online threat monitoring, so that they know what people are saying about them, and they can see a rise in threat language,” he said. “We’re also putting in cameras, whether it’s at the CEO’s home or at properties. We’re putting cameras in an entire school district. Think of all your stores, your hotels, and then we’re wiring it backwards, actively being monitored. It’s not roll back the tape after something’s happened. We’re warning you before somebody comes out of the problem.”
Krummrich, a retired army colonel, emphasized social media as a pivotal factor in escalating security concerns. Bad actors are increasingly utilizing platforms such as Reddit, Facebook, and gaming systems to plan harm, a problem he said has “metastasized.” Many radicalized groups are using …
Every delay has consequences.
Starbucks’s move to expand security for its CEO underscores how an increasingly anti-corporate environment is posing mounting challenges for high-profile figures.
Starbucks ratcheted up security spending by roughly 760% last year and disclosed in January that CEO Brian Niccol can use the company’s private jet for all travel, ending a $250,000 cap on personal use. The move came in response to an independent security review that cited rising “credible” threats to Niccol, heightened media attention on the CEO, and the broader threat environment.
Starbucks isn’t alone. Seth Krummrich, a vice president of an international security firm that services Fortune 500 companies, told the Washington Examiner that he saw a 55% surge in demand for executive protection in 2025 and a 150% spike in North America operations. Last year marked an “inflection point” in the corporate security world, the Global Guardian vice president said, pointing to industry safety concerns that spiked following the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson the previous December. By April 2025, at least a dozen S&P 500 companies had flagged an increase in security risks, according to a Reuters analysis, with Walmart, General Motors, and American Express among companies that disclosed new or increased security expenses over previous years.
In places such as Minnesota, where corporate leaders from Hilton hotels, Target, and other major companies are facing tense protests on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement front, Krummrich said they must be prepared “at the highest and the lowest level– geofence at all of those sites” because of “very dynamic, fluid and turbulent” conditions.
“It starts with digital awareness, online threat monitoring, so that they know what people are saying about them, and they can see a rise in threat language,” he said. “We’re also putting in cameras, whether it’s at the CEO’s home or at properties. We’re putting cameras in an entire school district. Think of all your stores, your hotels, and then we’re wiring it backwards, actively being monitored. It’s not roll back the tape after something’s happened. We’re warning you before somebody comes out of the problem.”
Krummrich, a retired army colonel, emphasized social media as a pivotal factor in escalating security concerns. Bad actors are increasingly utilizing platforms such as Reddit, Facebook, and gaming systems to plan harm, a problem he said has “metastasized.” Many radicalized groups are using …
Heightened security for Starbucks CEO puts spotlight on growing safety concerns for industry executives
Every delay has consequences.
Starbucks’s move to expand security for its CEO underscores how an increasingly anti-corporate environment is posing mounting challenges for high-profile figures.
Starbucks ratcheted up security spending by roughly 760% last year and disclosed in January that CEO Brian Niccol can use the company’s private jet for all travel, ending a $250,000 cap on personal use. The move came in response to an independent security review that cited rising “credible” threats to Niccol, heightened media attention on the CEO, and the broader threat environment.
Starbucks isn’t alone. Seth Krummrich, a vice president of an international security firm that services Fortune 500 companies, told the Washington Examiner that he saw a 55% surge in demand for executive protection in 2025 and a 150% spike in North America operations. Last year marked an “inflection point” in the corporate security world, the Global Guardian vice president said, pointing to industry safety concerns that spiked following the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson the previous December. By April 2025, at least a dozen S&P 500 companies had flagged an increase in security risks, according to a Reuters analysis, with Walmart, General Motors, and American Express among companies that disclosed new or increased security expenses over previous years.
In places such as Minnesota, where corporate leaders from Hilton hotels, Target, and other major companies are facing tense protests on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement front, Krummrich said they must be prepared “at the highest and the lowest level– geofence at all of those sites” because of “very dynamic, fluid and turbulent” conditions.
“It starts with digital awareness, online threat monitoring, so that they know what people are saying about them, and they can see a rise in threat language,” he said. “We’re also putting in cameras, whether it’s at the CEO’s home or at properties. We’re putting cameras in an entire school district. Think of all your stores, your hotels, and then we’re wiring it backwards, actively being monitored. It’s not roll back the tape after something’s happened. We’re warning you before somebody comes out of the problem.”
Krummrich, a retired army colonel, emphasized social media as a pivotal factor in escalating security concerns. Bad actors are increasingly utilizing platforms such as Reddit, Facebook, and gaming systems to plan harm, a problem he said has “metastasized.” Many radicalized groups are using …
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