Why Executive Security Is a Fiduciary Responsibility, Not a Perk 

By Trinity J. Davis 

The convergence of AI-driven impersonation, data exposure, and reputational targeting has erased the line between digital and physical risk. Today, a CEO’s online presence is as exposed as their travel schedule and threat actors know it. Yet too many organizations still approach executive protection as optics, not obligation 

The result? A growing blind spot. 

As threat actors get faster and more precise, the risk to executive leadership is no longer hypothetical. It’s happening in real time. The question isn’t whether a leader will face targeting. It’s whether the organization will be ready when they do. 

The hesitation stems less from budgets and more from how protection is perceived. 

For years, executive security has been labeled a perk instead of a necessity. SEC reporting rules and IRS code 132.5 classify personal protection as a “fringe benefit,” the same category as a company car or country club membership. 

Those definitions were written for transparency, not risk management. Yet they’ve shaped how boardrooms and shareholders see protection: as luxury, not continuity. 

That misunderstanding has real consequences. Boards hesitate to fund programs. Executives decline coverage to avoid optics. And organizations are left vulnerable to the very threats they’re otherwise prepared to manage. 

But executive protection isn’t an indulgence. In a world where digital, reputational, and physical threats overlap, protecting leadership isn’t optional. Even as U.S. companies spend record amounts on executive security, most still treat it as a taxable perk rather than a fiduciary responsibility.  

That perception gap keeps organizations vulnerable to the very risks they’re trying to manage. 

When Compliance and Optics Cloud Risk 

The problem begins with how executive security often gets categorized. 

Under SEC rules, companies must disclose the cost of security for top executives. At the same time, IRS code 132.5 classifies many of those expenses (residential systems, secure drivers, private air travel) as taxable fringe benefits. 

Together, those rules create a powerful illusion: executive protection looks personal, optional, and even indulgent. 

The intent was transparency. The effect has been distortion. 

Public filings list protection costs next to bonuses, making it easy for investors and journalists to treat them as perks.  

That framing triggers a predictable chain reaction: 

• Headlines: Media coverage focuses on “lavish spending” rather than organizational risk. 

• Shareholder scrutiny: Proxy advisors question the optics instead of the rationale. 

• Board hesitation: Directors trim budgets or bury line items to avoid attention. 

So what begins as compliance becomes hesitation. 

Inside companies, that same tension runs deep. Executives fear that accepting protection will make them look entitled. Some refuse residential coverage altogether. Others quietly scale back travel support to avoid attention. 

I’ve seen leaders reject drivers despite credible threat intelligence simply because they didn’t want the optics of being chauffeured. In most other areas of corporate risk, that level of self-consciousness would be unthinkable. 

No CEO declines legal counsel because it looks expensive. No CFO cancels cyber insurance for fear of perception. Yet when it comes to personal or reputational security, optics still outweigh risk. 

That mindset makes protection reactive instead of preventive. Programs expand only after an incident after a threatening message goes viral, a protest erupts, or a home intrusion hits the news. 

When protection lags behind threat, the fallout spreads fast: 

• Operational disruption: Travel plans, schedules, and decision cycles stall. 

• Reputational damage: The story shifts from prevention to failure. 

• Shareholder anxiety: Market confidence dips as leadership appears exposed. 

The ripple effects can be severe. 

When Bud Light’s leadership became the focus of a reputational crisis in 2023, the fallout erased billions in market capitalization and rattled employees. When threats surfaced against UnitedHealthcare’s senior leaders, morale and operations suffered before mitigation caught up. 

Different situations, same story. Perception and preparedness failed to align. 

Treating executive protection as a perk doesn’t save money; it transfers risk. The very systems built for accountability have framed protection as excess, convincing organizations to underinvest in their own continuity. 

Until that framing changes, executive security will keep looking optional when it is, in fact, essential risk management. 

Reframing Protection as Risk Management 

Every board understands the need for insurance, compliance, and cybersecurity. They protect what matters most: operations, data, and reputation. 

Executive protection does the same thing. It protects leadership continuity. 

When a CEO or senior leader is compromised, the fallout spreads fast. Operations slow. Employees panic. Investors lose confidence. A single incident can shake the foundation of the entire company. 

That’s why executive security belongs beside cyber defense and D&O coverage.  

Smart organizations have already made that shift. They’ve stopped funding protection based on title or ego and started funding it based on risk. 

So what does that look like in practice? 

A risk-based program ties every dollar of spending to real data public exposure, travel patterns, controversy levels, and verified threats. If an executive’s profile rises, coverage expands. If risk drops, budgets adjust. It’s disciplined, measurable, and defensible. 

That structure changes everything. 

Boards gain confidence. Security teams gain credibility. The organization gains predictability. 

It also reframes the conversation. Instead of asking to “protect an executive,” you’re asking to mitigate enterprise risk. That’s a language every board already speaks. 

Cybersecurity went through this evolution first. It was once viewed as an IT cost. Then came the breaches, lawsuits, and regulations. Now, it’s recognized as governance. 

Executive protection is next. 

Companies that embrace this mindset will be the ones that stay resilient when the next crisis hits; because they understand that protecting people is protecting the enterprise. 

How Security Leaders Change the Conversation 

The hardest part of changing perception isn’t outside the company. It’s inside. 

Boards won’t treat executive protection as governance until security leaders start speaking the language of governance. The job is to connect protection to what every director already cares about: risk, continuity, and fiduciary duty. 

Here’s how to make that shift stick: 

1. Lead with clarity. Brief the board on the business problem, not the security tools. Link recommendations to measurable risks and costs. Show what continuity looks like when leadership is protected and what it looks like when it’s not. 

2. Use data to earn credibility. Build arguments around hard evidence: threat intelligence, travel patterns, media exposure, social sentiment. Data turns subjective comfort into objective risk reduction. 

3. Control the optics. Security spending will always draw attention. Don’t bury it. Explain it. Framing protection as business continuity turns scrutiny into understanding. 

4. Measure what matters. Track metrics that connect security to performance: fewer threats, faster response times, higher executive confidence. Tie those gains to resilience and shareholder value. 

5. Build internal alignment. Work with legal, HR, investor relations, and communications. When those teams echo the same message, protection becomes part of responsible governance, not a side topic. 

Your role as a security leader isn’t just to prevent harm. It’s to help the organization defend its leadership, its stability, and its credibility. 

Do that well, and protection stops looking like privilege. It starts looking like good business. 

The Bottom Line 

Executive protection isn’t a perk.  

Boards that still treat it as optional are exposing their organizations to avoidable risk: operational, reputational, and financial. The same logic that justifies cybersecurity, insurance, and compliance applies here: protect what’s critical to the business. 

What’s at stake isn’t comfort. When leaders are safe, they can lead. When they’re not, the whole enterprise feels it. 

The next evolution in corporate governance is simple. Treat executive protection as part of fiduciary duty, not a personal benefit. 

Boards that fail to evolve their definition of protection aren’t just misclassifying cost. They’re mismanaging continuity. 

Trinity Davis, Chief Security Officer at 360 Privacy, spent over two decades in protective services, focused in the UHNW private family office and tech sector.  He built and led cross-functional teams in executive protection, residential security, travel security management and protective intelligence, spending the last six years in Silicon Valley working in social media and fintech. He moved to 360 Privacy in 2022 to focus on educating the industry on digital executive protection and how physical threats begin in the digital landscape.