Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Security and consulting firm |
Founded | 1978 |
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Key people | Gavin de Becker (founder) |
Website | gdba |
Gavin de Becker and Associates (GDBA) is a security and consulting firm that protects many of the world's most prominent people. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company operates in 27 cities and seven countries. [1]
Gavin de Becker and Associates was founded in 1978 by Gavin de Becker. [2] In 2013, GDBA took on TPG Growth as a minority investor. [3] [4] In 2019, Gavin de Becker bought back 100% of the company. [5]
Gavin de Becker and Associates is a "threat assessment and security firm" [6] that provides private security [7] and also offers protection training courses. [8]
They have provided services to corporations, government agencies, and schools. Clients reportedly include the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and "the 90 most prominent families in the world". [9] Over the years, public client references have included Theresa Saldana, Madonna, Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael J. Fox, Barbra Streisand, Jeff Bezos, and John Travolta. [10] [11]
Gavin de Becker and Associates opened the Private Suite at the Los Angeles International Airport on May 15, 2017, which is described by The Wall Street Journal as "a remote terminal for VIPs, celebrities, CEOs", and anyone willing to pay for privacy. [12] de Becker reported the Private Suite will soon open at John F. Kennedy International Airport. [1]
In November 2017, it was reported that GDBA opened a version of the Private Suite at the Westfield Century City shopping center, which provides VIP shoppers the opportunity of a private shopping experience. [1]
Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company, engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It is considered one of the Big Five American technology companies; the other four are Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.
Jeffrey Preston Bezos is an American businessman, media proprietor and investor. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce and cloud computing company. He is the second wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of about US$205 billion as of April 5, 2024. He was also the wealthiest from 2017 to 2021, according to both the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes.
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network. The protocol is widely used in applications such as email, instant messaging, and voice over IP, but its use in securing HTTPS remains the most publicly visible.
McAfee Corp., formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an American global computer security software company headquartered in San Jose, California.
TPG Inc., previously known as Texas Pacific Group and TPG Capital, is an American private equity firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. TPG manages investment funds in growth capital, venture capital, public equity, and debt investments. The firm invests in a range of industries including consumer/retail, media and telecommunications, industrials, technology, travel, leisure, and health care. TPG became a public company in January 2022, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “TPG”.
Landmark is a commercial complex owned by Hongkong Land in Central, Hong Kong. It consists of three office towers: Gloucester Tower, Edinburgh Tower and York House. Its retail podium, Landmark Atrium, forms the core component of the LANDMARK shopping mall.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1909, Kirkland & Ellis is the largest law firm in the world by revenue and the seventh-largest by number of attorneys, and was the first law firm in the world to reach US$4 billion in annual revenue.
Astound Broadband is an American telecommunications holding company based in Princeton, New Jersey. It was formed on January 24, 2018, with the completion of the $2.36 billion purchase of Kirkland-based Wave Broadband by private-equity firm TPG Capital. TPG combined Wave with its existing combination of Princeton-based RCN Corporation and San Marcos-based Grande Communications, both of which were acquired on February 1, 2017, in a $2.25 billion deal; TPG bought RCN for $1.6 billion and Grande for $650 million.
IMS Health was an American company that provided information, services and technology for the healthcare industry. IMS stood for Intercontinental Medical Statistics. It was the largest vendor of U.S. physician prescribing data. IMS Health was founded in 1954 by Bill Frohlich and David Dubow with Arthur Sackler having a hidden ownership stake. In 2010, IMS Health was taken private by TPG Capital, CPP Investment Board and Leonard Green & Partners. The company went public on April 4, 2014, and began trading on the NYSE under the symbol IMS. IMS Health was headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut.
Gavin de Becker is an American author and security specialist who has worked for governments, large corporations, and public figures. Reportedly a billionaire, he runs Gavin de Becker and Associates, which he founded in 1978. The firm protects and advises many of the world's most prominent public figures. He is the author of several books on violence, most notably The Gift of Fear, and his books have been published in twenty-five languages.
Paul Hastings LLP is a global law firm that represents a client base in finance, M&A, private equity, and litigation.
Latham & Watkins LLP is an American multinational law firm. Founded in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, Latham is the second-largest law firm in the world by revenue. As of 2022, Latham is also one of the most profitable law firms in the world, with profits per partner exceeding US$5.7 million.
The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is a civil rights organization in the United States. Founded in November 1951 as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, it is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization with nearly 50,000 members across New York State.
Patrick F. Philbin is an American lawyer who served as Deputy Counsel to the President and Deputy Assistant to the President in the Office of White House Counsel in the Donald J. Trump administration. He previously served in the Department of Justice during the George W. Bush administration.
Executive protection (EP), also known as close protection, refers to security and risk mitigation measures taken to ensure the safety of VIPs or other individuals who may be exposed to elevated personal risk because of their employment, high-profile status, net worth, affiliations or geographical location.
Guggenheim Partners, LLC is a global investment and advisory financial services firm that engages in investment banking, asset management, capital markets services, and insurance services.
Warren Neil Eggleston is an American lawyer who served as the White House Counsel under President Barack Obama. Eggleston was the fourth person to hold this post during the Obama administration.
Scentre GroupLimited is a shopping centre company with retail destinations operating under the Westfield brand in Australia and New Zealand. The corporation undertakes ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, property management, leasing, and marketing activities for its centres. The group was created in June 2014 when the Westfield Group separated its American and European businesses from its operations in Australia and New Zealand. The company is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and had a shopping centre portfolio that includes investment interests in 42 shopping centres across Australia and New Zealand in 2019, encompassing around 12,544 retail outlets and total assets under management in excess of A$39.4 billion in 2015.
Tanium is a privately held cybersecurity and systems management company founded in 2007 with headquarters in Kirkland, Washington, and its operations center in Emeryville, California.
In January 2020, the FTI Consulting company claimed that in May 2018 with "medium to high confidence" the phone of Jeff Bezos had been hacked by a file sent from the WhatsApp account of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. The Saudi Arabian embassy to the United States has denied the allegations. Billionaire Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post newspaper and founder of the company Amazon, engaged FTI Consulting in February 2019 after the National Enquirer in January 2019 reported details of Bezos's affair. FTI Consulting did not link the National Enquirer to the hack. In December 2021, the FBI stated they could not find proof to substantiate claims that Saudi Arabia hacked Jeff Bezos phone, and has considered an investigation into those allegations a low priority.