Meta spent a record $27 million on Mark Zuckerberg's security and private jet travel in 2021

• Meta spent $26.8 million on security and private jets for Mark Zuckerberg in 2021, an SEC filing shows.
• The Meta CEO's security costs doubled in 2018 and have been rising ever since.

It's an expensive job keeping Mark Zuckerberg safe.

Meta spent a record $26.8 million on security and private jets for Zuckerberg and his family in 2021, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). That's up from $25 million in 2020 and $23 million in 2019.

Meta's filing didn't give details about what Zuckerberg's security arrangements involve. However, Insider's Rob Price reported in 2019 that Zuckerberg had 24/7 bodyguard protection, as well as access to an office with bullet-resistant glass and a panic button.

Since 2018, Zuckerberg's corporate security costs have outstripped other Big Tech executives by a wide margin. Meta's spending on Zuckerberg's security doubled in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Meta said in the SEC filing that it spent more than $15.1 million on personal security for Zuckerberg in 2021, on top of a $10 million pre-tax allowance for security relating to both him and his family.

The company spent over $1.6 million on private air travel for Zuckerberg in 2021, Meta said in the filing. This was down slightly from the last few years: the company spent around $1.8 million in 2020 and $2.9 million in 2019.

It's not entirely possible to tell whether more is spent on Zuckerberg's security than other tech billionaires as some, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, do not disclose their security costs publicly.