Meta spent about $8.5 million (£6.4 million) in 2025 protecting Mark Zuckerberg at his homes and on personal travel. It also set aside a further $14 million (£10.5 million) a year for his family's security, according to the company's 2026 proxy statement. Budgets on that scale pay for residential security, secure travel and the people who plan and run it all: executive protection agents.
An executive protection agent is a security professional who plans and manages the safety of one person or one family. The aim is that they can live and work without being harmed, embarrassed or disrupted. Most of the job is planning and coordination. Physical intervention is the rare exception.
Below, we cover the daily work, how it differs from bodyguard work and who hires agents. We also set out the licenses required in the US and the UK, and what the job pays.
What does an executive protection agent do?
An executive protection agent keeps a principal, the person being protected, away from danger. The agent controls where they go, how they get there and who can reach them. The work falls into four parts:
Advance work. Visiting a venue, hotel or route before the principal arrives. The agent checks the exits, the nearest trauma hospital, who controls access to the building and where a car can wait. A good advance also includes a medical plan for the detail.
The movement. Getting the principal from car to door to meeting room and back, with each agent placed where they can see trouble coming. Our piece on formations and body cover covers where to stand and why.
Residential security. The home, the household staff, deliveries and visitors.
Protective intelligence. Watching for threats before they arrive: hostile posts online, a letter to the office, the same unfamiliar car outside the house two mornings running.
The ASIS Executive Protection Standard came out in September 2025. It sets out the same building blocks for corporate programs: intelligence gathering, close protection operations, security advances, transportation and emergency response.
What does the work look like day to day?
A typical day on an executive protection detail starts before the principal wakes and ends after they are home. Most of it is logistics. Agents confirm timings with the driver and the assistant, check the next venue and read the overnight threat reporting. Then they adjust the plan when the schedule changes, which it usually does.
The rest is watching. Attackers usually study a target before they act, learning where the person will be and when. Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare executive shot near the New York Hilton Midtown on December 4, 2024, is the case most people now think of. Federal prosecutors charged the accused gunman with stalking as well as murder. An agent's best chance of stopping an attack comes during that watching phase. It means noticing the same face at the hotel and again at the office, then changing the plan before anyone acts.
For a first-hand account of how long and unglamorous those hours can be, read this day on a protection assignment from a working agent.
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Is an executive protection agent the same as a bodyguard?
The two titles are often used for the same job, but they suggest different things. "Bodyguard" usually means a person who stays close to a client and responds to whatever happens in the moment, which is common in nightlife and entertainment work. "Executive protection agent" describes a planned program in which staying close to the principal is only one part, alongside the advance, the intelligence and the residence. In the UK, the usual title is close protection officer, or CPO, and the same SIA close protection license applies whichever title is used.
Practitioners have argued about the labels for years. For one working protector's take, read bodyguard or executive protection specialist.
Who hires executive protection agents?
Executive protection agents work for corporations, family offices and wealthy families, public figures, the protection companies that supply contracted teams, and governments.
Corporations are spending more on it every year. According to the compensation data firm Equilar, 37.8% of S&P 500 companies disclosed paying for executive security in 2025, up from 23.6% in 2021. The median value among those companies was $130,468 (£97,500). The study credits heightened threat awareness after Thompson's death with part of the shift. The largest companies spend far more, as their proxy filings show.
Source: Meta, Alphabet, Nvidia and Amazon proxy statements filed April and May 2026. Meta figure combines direct costs and a separate security allowance.
Families and public figures hire agents directly or through a protection company. The work changes with the client: a technology founder's detail looks different from a touring musician's. Our comparison of celebrity and executive protection sets the two side by side.
Governments run their own protective services. The US Secret Service protects the President, the Vice President and their families, former presidents, visiting heads of state and major presidential candidates. The State Department's Diplomatic Security Service protects the Secretary of State around the clock, anywhere in the world. It also guards the US Ambassador to the United Nations and about 150 visiting foreign dignitaries a year.
What licenses and training does an executive protection agent need?
There is no single executive protection license in the US. Each state sets its own rules, and carrying a firearm usually adds a second layer. In the UK, contracted protection work needs a close protection license from the Security Industry Authority (SIA).
Where | License | Main requirements |
|---|---|---|
Texas | Personal Protection Officer license (Occupations Code ch. 1702), required for armed personal protection | Age 21; a security officer commission; a 15-hour personal protection course; a psychological test (MMPI); employment by a licensed company |
California | No separate protection license. A Security Guard Registration covers protecting "persons or property"; armed work also needs an Exposed Firearms Permit | Age 18 (21 for the firearms permit); 8 hours of training before registration, 32 more within six months, 8 hours every year |
UK (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) | Age 18; a Level 3 first aid qualification; the Level 3 Certificate for Close Protection Operatives (194 hours over 18 days); a £204 (about $273) fee; valid three years; a refresher qualification to renew since April 1, 2026 |
Two details catch people out. In Texas, the personal protection license is tied to carrying a firearm: the law defines the role as protecting someone from bodily harm while armed. In the UK, the SIA says protectors employed directly by the company or family they protect usually do not need a license. Anyone working under a contract for services does.
Most agents train well beyond the license, adding advanced driving, medical courses and threat assessment. Our members' analysis of which executive protection certifications actually raise your rate weighs the main credentials against what they cost and what they add to a rate.
Choosing between courses now? The Credential Value Model in the Members' Library weighs the cost of each certification against what it does for your rate.
How much does an executive protection agent earn?
No government survey reports executive protection pay on its own. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics counts bodyguards under security guards, a group with median pay of $38,020 (£28,400) in May 2025. That category is dominated by site and patrol guards, so it says little about protection work for corporations and private clients.
Executive protection pay comes in two main forms. In-house agents employed by a company or family office earn a salary, often with overtime or travel allowances. Contracted agents earn a day rate. It varies with the city, the threat level and whether the work is armed, and income depends on how many days a year they book. The EP Salary Benchmark 2026, our members' report, sets out pay bands by role, region and experience for US and UK protection work.
A day rate has to cover the days you do not work as well as the tax on the days you do. Our free Day Rate & Real Take-Home calculator shows what a rate really leaves you after tax, and the floor rate you need to hit your target.
Frequently asked questions
Do executive protection agents carry guns?
Some do and many do not. It depends on the client, the threat and the law where the work happens. In Texas, armed personal protection requires a Personal Protection Officer license, and in California armed guards need an Exposed Firearms Permit on top of their registration.
What does a CIA executive protection agent do?
The CIA lists "security protective service (federal police) officers" among its staff in its official FAQ, and its security officers protect agency personnel, facilities, information and operations. Applicants must be US citizens aged 18 or over, willing to move to the Washington area, and able to pass a polygraph interview and a background investigation.
Do you need military or police experience to become an executive protection agent?
No. None of the Texas, California or UK requirements above asks for it. Many agents do come from the military or law enforcement, and that background helps with firearms, driving and teamwork. Employers still hire on training, judgment and references.
How do you find executive protection agent jobs?
Corporate security departments and protection companies advertise on their own careers pages and on general job boards. Many roles are filled through people already on a team. Our guide to establishing your career path in close protection covers the first steps, from training to first contracts.
The short version
An executive protection agent plans and manages one person's safety, and most of the work is preparation done before anything happens. The job needs a license where you work, regular training, and long hours spent watching and waiting. Circuit Magazine, which publishes On The Circuit, a free weekly intelligence briefing for security and protection professionals, covers this work every week.
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