What Recommended HNW Security Teams Do About Dating Risk

What recommended HNW security teams do about dating and new relationships

Recommended HNW security teams do something with dating that many families find awkward at first: they raise it. A principal who is single, divorced or widowed, an adult child who meets people through apps, a family member who travels and meets someone new: each of these is part of a normal private life, and each can bring a stranger into a hotel room, a car or the family home within days. Two cases in the news this month show why that deserves calm, discreet attention rather than silence.

On October 16, 2026, Fortune reported that a woman who prosecutors say used LinkedIn to find wealthy men had pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to fraud tied to a plot to extort more than $1.2 billion from three victims. According to the court documents described in the report, after the main victim refused a final demand, her lawyer conveyed that she wished to bring pain to his children. On October 20, the Colombian newspaper Vanguardia reported that a 77-year-old American had reported being drugged and robbed in his hotel room in Bogotá by two women he had allowed to come up to his room, and that his phones were then used to make financial transactions he had not authorized.

These are different cases in different countries, and I am not drawing a moral from anyone’s private life. In the first, the defendant has pleaded guilty to fraud, and the documents say the main victim denies her allegations against him. In the second, the account comes from the victim’s report and the circumstances are under investigation. What interests me is the protective pattern: a relationship or a meeting that begins privately, moves quickly to a private place, and ends with a threat to the person, the family or both.

This article supports the sections on insider risk and on private security for family members in our complete 2026 overview of high net worth security. That pillar piece explains how high net worth security protects the principal, the family and the household, and how trust is managed around them. Here I want to look at one part of that trust problem that families rarely discuss with their security team: romantic relationships and first meetings.

For the wider circle of trainers, new friends and houseguests who can become a risk, read our piece on private security for high net worth family members and the inner circle. This article stays with dating, intimacy and the people who are invited closest of all.

Key takeaways

• What recommended HNW security teams do about dating is quiet preparation: discreet checks, safe first meetings, rules for hotel rooms and the home, and a plan if a relationship turns into a threat.
• According to court documents described by Fortune, prosecutors say the defendant cold-messaged her main victim on LinkedIn about a business endeavor before a personal relationship began.
• The same documents say that after he refused a demand, her lawyer conveyed that she wished to bring pain to his children. A threat to the family turns a financial dispute into a physical security matter.
• In Bogotá, the victim reported that two women were allowed up to his hotel room, that he felt ill after a glass of wine and woke in a clinic the next day, according to Vanguardia.
• Private places such as hotel rooms and homes remove the witnesses and controls that protect people in public. First meetings belong in public.
• Drugging is a medical emergency first. Staff and family should know the signs and act at once.
• Close protection for UHNW families should cover the moment a relationship ends badly, including threats to children and the home.

What was reported this month

I will stay with what the publications reported and what court documents and victims are said to have stated. I am not adding to either account.

The Manhattan plea

Fortune reported that Changli Luo, also known as Sophia, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, October 13, to fraud tied to a plot to extort more than $1.2 billion from three victims, and that she faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing in February. Court documents reviewed by Fortune call the main target Victim-1 and do not name him. Bloomberg, citing a person with direct knowledge, reported that he is Fortress Investment Group co-founder Wes Edens, and Fortune said other outlets had also identified him. An Edens spokesperson declined to comment. Fortune noted that its account came from the complaint, indictments and filings by prosecutors and the defense, that Luo’s lawyers had disputed the government’s allegations before her plea, and that the documents say Victim-1 denies Luo’s allegations against him.

According to those documents, as described by Fortune, Luo cold-messaged Victim-1 on LinkedIn in November 2022 to discuss a business endeavor. After a handful of meetings, a personal relationship began in June 2023. Prosecutors say her messages later turned from flattering to threatening, that in May 2024 she sent letters making accusations against him and claiming that her home had cameras, and that he agreed to mediation because he believed it would spare his family harassment and public embarrassment. The documents say he agreed to pay several million dollars and made an initial payment, and that the demands later rose to at least $900 million and then to $1.215 billion.

On March 29, 2025, according to the documents, a new demand of $50 million was relayed through her lawyer, with a message that she was determined to destroy him. Later that day, the documents say, her lawyer conveyed that she wished to bring pain to Victim-1’s children. Victim-1 did not pay. Prosecutors also allege that images on her devices were altered. Court records show she was arrested in June 2025 and that her release conditions included home detention with GPS monitoring and orders to avoid contact with Victim-1 or his family outside her lawyers’ presence.

Fortune reported that some charges involve two other men. Prosecutors allege she lured men into relationships for the primary purpose of stealing their money and property, including photographing one man’s credit card and later using it, and approaching another with a cold call claiming to be raising donations for a nonprofit before asking him for expensive gifts.

The Bogotá hotel room

Vanguardia reported that a 77-year-old American citizen reported the theft of his belongings at a hotel in the Usaquén area of Bogotá, allegedly after being drugged by two women. According to the information published about his report, the women arrived at the hotel reception on Thursday, October 15, asked for him and, after he authorized it, went up to his room. He began to feel unwell after a glass of wine and lost consciousness. He woke around midday on Friday, October 16, at a clinic, without clear memory of what had happened.

The items reported stolen included a tablet, a phone, a smartwatch, jewelry and credit cards. The report said the devices were allegedly used to access his financial accounts and make transactions he did not authorize, and put the total loss at about 70 million Colombian pesos. Relatives suspect that scopolamine was used, Vanguardia reported, and the authorities still have to establish who the women were and how the theft took place. The newspaper noted that the hotel’s camera footage and the identity documents the visitors presented at reception could help.

Why dating is a security subject

I want to be clear about what I am and am not saying. Wealthy people are entitled to private lives, to relationships and to meeting new people. The great majority of new relationships are exactly what they appear to be. A security team that treats every date as a threat will be ignored, and it will deserve to be.

But dating has features that a protection professional cannot ignore. It brings a stranger very close, very quickly. It often moves from public places to private ones within a few meetings. It involves alcohol, late nights and travel. It creates information, images and expectations that can later be used as leverage. And it is the one area of a principal’s life where they are least likely to tell their security team what is happening.

Those features are exactly what the two cases this month illustrate. In Manhattan, according to the court documents described by Fortune, a contact that began as a business message became a relationship and then a campaign of demands that ended with a threat aimed at the victim’s children. In Bogotá, according to the victim’s report, two visitors were allowed into a hotel room, and the next thing he remembered was waking in a clinic.

Recommended HNW security teams and the conversation nobody wants

The hardest part of dating security is the first conversation. Principals do not want to discuss their private lives with their protection team, and protection teams often do not know how to raise it without sounding intrusive.

Recommended HNW security teams handle this by making the subject routine. When we build a program for a family, dating and new relationships are one item on a list that also includes houseguests, staff, travel and social media. We explain once, in plain terms, why it matters and what we can offer: discreet checks if the principal wants them, safe arrangements for first meetings, rules for hotel rooms and the home, and a plan if things go wrong. Then we leave it to the principal to decide how much to share. In my experience, principals who have heard that explanation calmly are much more likely to come to us when something feels wrong.

Discretion is everything here. Whatever a principal shares about a relationship stays with the smallest possible number of people, and never reaches household staff, other family members or the family office without the principal’s agreement.

Where first contact comes from

According to the documents described by Fortune, the defendant first contacted Victim-1 through a business network, about a business endeavor, and approached another man by cold-calling him about a supposed nonprofit. That is a pattern worth understanding. A first approach that looks professional or charitable lowers the guard in a way that a dating app message does not.

In my experience, the sources of first contact that deserve a little more thought include:

• Unsolicited approaches through professional networks that move quickly from business to personal.
• Introductions at charity events, conferences and private clubs from people nobody in the principal’s circle knows well.
• Dating apps and introduction services, particularly where profiles are new or details do not add up.
• Approaches while traveling, in hotel bars, restaurants and events, where the principal is away from familiar people.
• Contacts who seem to know a great deal about the principal before they have been told it.

None of these is suspicious in itself. They are simply the situations where a little care at the start saves a great deal of trouble later.

Discreet checks before things get serious

Many principals are uncomfortable with the idea of checking a new partner. I understand that. It can feel like a betrayal of trust before trust has been given. In practice, a discreet, lawful check is usually far less intrusive than people imagine, and it can be done without the other person knowing.

A basic check confirms that the person is who they say they are: that the name, the job, the city and the story fit together and are consistent with public information. It is not surveillance, and it does not involve hacking, following or recording anyone. Any check must stay within the law in the jurisdiction concerned, including privacy and consumer reporting rules. If the basic picture holds, the principal carries on. If it does not, the principal has learned something important early, before they have shared their home, their family or their secrets.

First meetings in public

The rule I give principals first about dating is also the simplest: first meetings happen in public, in places the principal knows, at times that suit the principal. That means a restaurant or hotel lounge with staff and other guests, not a private apartment, a hotel room or the family home.

In Bogotá, according to the victim’s report, the women were allowed up to his room after they asked for him at reception. A private room removes everything that protects people in public: witnesses, staff, cameras and the easy option of leaving. It also makes it easy for someone to tamper with a drink without being seen.

For principals with a protection detail, the agent can be nearby during a first meeting without being intrusive, at another table or in the lobby, with transport ready. For principals without one, a trusted driver who knows where they are and when they expect to leave serves a similar purpose. In both cases, someone knows where the principal is, with whom, and when they should hear from them.

Drinks, drugging and medical response

The Bogotá case, as reported, involved a glass of wine and a loss of consciousness, and relatives suspect a drug was used. I am not going to speculate about the substance in that case. In general, drugging is a recognized risk for travelers in many cities, and it is a medical emergency before it is a crime.

The practical rules are well known and worth repeating. Do not leave a drink unattended. Accept drinks served directly by bar or restaurant staff rather than brought by someone else. Be cautious in private rooms with people you have just met. If you feel suddenly and unusually unwell, tell someone immediately and get to medical help. For people around the principal, the rule is equally simple: if the principal seems far more affected than the drinks would explain, treat it as a medical emergency and call for help at once.

Our article on estate medical readiness for UHNW households covers the wider medical plan for a household, and the same principles apply on the road.

Hotel rooms and visitors

Hotels are where many principals meet people while traveling, and they are designed to be welcoming. That is exactly why the rules for visitors need to be clear. In Bogotá, according to Vanguardia, the visitors asked for the guest at reception and went up after he authorized it, and the hotel’s cameras and the identity documents shown at reception may help the investigation.

I suggest that principals do not invite people they have just met to their hotel room, that any visitor meets them in the lobby or a public area of the hotel first, and that if a principal does choose to bring someone back, the protection team or a trusted person knows. Valuables, phones and devices should be locked away and protected by strong passcodes and biometric locks, because, as the Bogotá report shows, stolen devices can be used to reach financial accounts. Our article on close protection for UHNW families traveling abroad covers hotel and villa security in the wider travel plan.

Signs a new relationship deserves a closer look

Many principals have good instincts about people. The difficulty is that a new relationship is exactly the situation in which instincts are least trusted, because everyone wants it to go well. In my experience, the signs that deserve a closer look are patterns rather than single events.

• The relationship moves unusually fast, with declarations of strong feeling after very few meetings.
• The other person knows a great deal about the principal’s wealth, family or schedule early on.
• They push to meet in private places, or to visit the family home, before trust has been established.
• Requests for money, gifts, travel or business introductions appear early and grow.
• Their story about their work, family or past changes, or cannot be confirmed in ordinary ways.
• Affection turns quickly to anger, accusation or pressure when a request is refused.

According to the documents described by Fortune, prosecutors say the defendant texted Victim-1 a letter professing her love after meeting him in person no more than three times, and that her messages later turned from flattering to threatening. I am not suggesting that every fast romance is a scheme. I am suggesting that a principal who notices several of these signs at once should feel free to ask for a discreet check, without embarrassment.

Staff and the new partner

Household staff often see a new relationship before anyone else does. The driver takes the principal to dinner. The house manager prepares a guest room. The nanny meets the new partner on a Sunday morning. Staff are in a delicate position: they want to be discreet and loyal, and they may notice things that worry them.

I suggest that staff are told, as part of their general security briefing, that guests are treated warmly but are not given codes, keys or private information about the family, and that staff can raise any concern with the security lead in confidence. Staff should never be asked to spy on anyone. They should simply know that if a guest asks unusual questions about the family’s routines, the safe or the children’s schedule, the security lead would like to hear about it.

Introduction services and event invitations

Some principals meet partners through introduction services, matchmakers or invitations to exclusive events. These can be excellent, and many are run professionally. They also create a channel through which someone can pay or persuade their way into a principal’s company.

I suggest that principals choose services with a long track record and clear vetting, that they do not share their home address or family details through the service, and that event invitations from people nobody in the principal’s circle knows are checked through a known contact before the principal attends. A first meeting arranged by a service should follow the same rules as any other: public, on the principal’s terms, with someone aware of where they are.

Home security for high net worth individuals when a new partner comes home

The moment a new partner first comes to the family home is a security event, whether anyone calls it that or not. They see the layout, the staff, the children, the art on the walls and the way the gate and alarm work. They may stay overnight. Within weeks, they may know the household as well as a member of staff.

Home security for high net worth individuals should handle this without drama. I suggest that new partners are not given codes, keys or gate fobs until the relationship is established, that they are treated by staff as guests rather than as residents, that private areas such as the study, the safe room and the children’s rooms are not part of the tour, and that the principal tells the residential security lead when a new person will be staying. None of this needs to be visible to the guest. It simply means the household does not hand over access faster than trust has been earned.

When a relationship ends, the reverse applies. Codes are changed, fobs are cancelled, staff are told that the person no longer has access and the gate is briefed. This is routine, not a judgment about the person, and it should happen whether the ending is friendly or not.

Private security for high net worth family members: the adult children

Private security for high net worth family members includes adult children who date, often through apps, often in cities far from home. They may be less aware than their parents of how their family name or wealth looks to a stranger, and more inclined to bring someone back to a family apartment or holiday home.

I would not lecture them. I would offer them the same practical rules I give principals: meet in public first, tell someone where you are, watch your drink, do not bring people you have just met to family properties, and call the security team or the family office at any hour if something feels wrong. Young adults who know that the call will be met with help rather than criticism are far more likely to make it. Our article on high net worth security for adult children and in-laws covers the wider program for that generation.

Older principals and widowed parents

The victim in Bogotá was 77, according to Vanguardia. I mention his age not to suggest that older people are naive, but because families often overlook dating security for their older members. A widowed parent who begins dating again, sometimes after decades, may be meeting people through apps and introductions for the first time, and may be reluctant to tell adult children about it.

Families can help without intruding. A gentle conversation, offered with respect, about meeting in public, keeping devices locked and calling someone if anything feels wrong goes a long way. So does making sure the parent knows that the family office or the security team can carry out a discreet check if they want one, and that asking is not a sign of distrust. Our article on close protection for UHNW families with elderly parents covers the wider plan for older family members.

What a date can learn from social media

Before a first meeting, many people look each other up. That is normal. For a wealthy family, it also means that a stranger can arrive at dinner knowing the principal’s homes, children’s schools, holiday destinations and recent purchases, if the family’s social media and press coverage reveal them.

The answer is not to disappear from public life. It is to review what the family’s accounts and public records reveal, and to tighten the settings and habits that give away sensitive details: home locations, real-time travel, children’s schools and the layout of the house. A principal who notices that a new acquaintance already knows things they have not been told should treat that as information worth sharing with the security team.

Traveling to meet someone

Sometimes the principal is the one who travels, to meet someone they have met online or at an event elsewhere. That combines the risks of dating with the risks of travel: an unfamiliar city, a host who controls the arrangements and a principal who is away from familiar people.

I suggest that the principal arranges their own accommodation and transport rather than accepting the other person’s arrangements, that the first meeting is in a public place the principal has chosen, that someone at home knows the itinerary and expects regular check-ins, and that the principal keeps the means to leave at any time. If the destination carries a higher risk of crime against visitors, the security team should brief the principal before departure.

When a relationship turns into leverage

According to the court documents described by Fortune, the defendant’s letters to Victim-1 claimed that her home had cameras and that everything had been caught on camera, and prosecutors allege that images were later altered. Whatever the facts of any individual case, intimate images and private conversations are a known source of leverage against wealthy people, and modern editing tools make it possible to fabricate them.

This is where cyber and reputational risk turn into physical risk. A person making demands may escalate from messages to appearances at the home, the office or the children’s school. In the Manhattan case, according to the documents, the final message conveyed a wish to bring pain to Victim-1’s children. A threat that names the children changes the protective posture immediately, whatever the person’s actual intent.

What I advise when demands begin

• Do not respond alone. Involve the security lead and legal counsel straight away.
• Preserve every message, letter and call record, and do not delete anything.
• Do not pay on impulse or under time pressure. Decisions about demands belong with legal counsel and, where appropriate, law enforcement.
• Review the home, the office, the school run and the principal’s movements as soon as threats mention the family.
• Brief the people who need to know, such as the residential team and the children’s protection or school contacts, without sharing more than necessary.

Close protection for UHNW families when a threat names the children

Close protection for UHNW families has to respond to what a person says they want to do, as well as to what they have done. When a threat mentions children, I want the protective response to reach the children that day: the school run reviewed, the school’s contact briefed in general terms, the residential team told who to look out for, and the children’s routines adjusted where needed.

Fortune reported that the defendant’s release conditions, after her arrest, included orders to avoid contact with Victim-1 or his family outside her lawyers’ presence. Court orders of that kind are an important tool. They are not a physical barrier, and a protection plan should be built on the assumption that someone may ignore them. Our article on private security for high net worth family members under threat explains how that posture is built when a threat names the family.

Security for UHNW family offices: payments, gifts and the trust chain

Security for UHNW family offices meets dating in an unexpected place: payments. Prosecutors allege that the defendant asked other men for expensive gifts, travel and business funding, and photographed one man’s credit card. Requests for money, gifts and introductions are where a personal relationship usually touches the family office.

I do not suggest that the family office monitors anyone’s relationships. I suggest that large or unusual payments, gifts and introductions requested by a new partner go through the same verification as any other request, and that the family office knows to raise a concern discreetly with the principal or the security lead if it sees a pattern. In the Manhattan case, according to the documents, the victim agreed to mediation and made a payment because he believed it would spare his family harassment. Families should know that the family office and the security team can help with that kind of decision.

Family office high net worth individuals security on the road

Family office high net worth individuals security includes travel, and travel is where many of these risks peak. Away from home, principals are more likely to meet strangers, more likely to be in hotel rooms, more likely to drink and less likely to have familiar people around. The Bogotá victim, according to the report, was a traveler in a hotel.

Before a trip, the protection team can brief the principal on the local risks, including drugging and robbery patterns reported in the destination, agree check-in times and make sure someone knows the principal’s plans for each evening. During the trip, a protection agent or a trusted driver can be close by without being intrusive. Our travel security service builds these arrangements into each itinerary.

Personal security for high networth individuals and phones

The Bogotá report said the stolen devices were allegedly used to access the victim’s financial accounts. Personal security for high networth individuals now includes the phone in the pocket, because a phone taken in a hotel room can open bank accounts, email, the home security app and the family’s location sharing.

I advise strong passcodes rather than simple ones, biometric locks, the ability to wipe devices remotely, separate devices for banking where practical and an agreed procedure to freeze cards and accounts quickly if a phone is lost or taken. If the home’s cameras, gate or alarm can be controlled from the phone, the residential team should know immediately so that access can be revoked.

A hypothetical walk-through: a dinner in another city

To make this concrete, here is a hypothetical scenario. It is not based on any client, and the details are invented.

A principal traveling on business meets someone at a conference reception. They get on well and agree to have dinner the following evening. The principal mentions it to his protection agent in the morning, as they have agreed he will. The agent reserves a table at a restaurant the principal knows, arranges for the car to wait nearby and asks the principal to message him if he decides to go on anywhere afterwards.

Dinner goes well. Toward the end, the guest suggests continuing the evening in the principal’s hotel suite. The principal, remembering the conversation he had with his team, suggests the hotel bar instead. The agent is in the lobby. Later, the principal says goodnight in the bar and goes up alone. Nothing about the evening was awkward or visibly guarded, and the guest never knew there was a plan.

If the guest had been exactly who they seemed, the principal lost nothing. If they had not been, the principal never put himself in a private room with a stranger, never left a drink unattended in a place without staff and never let anyone near his phone. That is what good dating security looks like: invisible when nothing is wrong, and decisive when something is.

Recommended HNW security teams after a relationship ends

Many of the problems I see do not arise during a relationship. They arise after it ends, when one person feels wronged, embarrassed or entitled to something. Recommended HNW security teams treat the end of a significant relationship as a moment to review the household, whether the ending is friendly or not.

That review is quiet and practical: access changed, staff told, the gate briefed, any shared accounts or devices separated, and a watch kept for messages, appearances or deliveries that suggest the other person is not ready to move on. If demands or threats appear, the team responds as described above. If nothing happens, the review cost very little and the family can move on with confidence.

Confidentiality: what the security team keeps and who sees it

Principals are right to ask what happens to anything they tell their security team about their private life. My answer is that it is held by the fewest possible people, for the shortest possible time, for one purpose: keeping the principal and the family safe. It is not shared with household staff, other family members or the family office without the principal’s agreement, and it is not recorded in places that many people can read.

In practice, that means a discreet check is reported to the principal and no one else, a plan for a first meeting is known to the agent and the driver involved, and nothing about a relationship appears in general security logs unless it has become a threat. If a relationship does turn into demands or threats, the circle widens to the people who need to act, such as legal counsel and the residential team, and to law enforcement where appropriate. A principal who trusts that discipline is far more likely to come forward early, which is when the team can help quietly and with little disruption.

High net worth security services and in-house research and development

The methods used by people who target wealthy individuals through relationships change constantly, from the platforms they use to the stories they tell. Effective high net worth security services follow those changes. At MSB Protection we run in-house research and development to counter threats to UHNW clients, and part of that work is studying cases like these, from first contact to the moment a threat reaches the family, so that our guidance on first meetings, hotel rooms, the home and threat response reflects current methods.

That research does not replace a principal’s judgment about the people in their life. It gives them better information, and a team that knows what to do if their judgment is tested.

High net worth security and the public profile

Principals with a public profile, through business, sport, entertainment or philanthropy, face an extra layer of this risk. People seek them out, sometimes with genuine interest and sometimes with a plan. A public figure who is known to be single, or who is going through a public divorce, may receive approaches that are calculated rather than spontaneous.

High net worth security for those principals includes a slightly wider net: approaches through representatives, fan contact and social media are reviewed by the team, and new acquaintances who seek out the principal persistently are looked at more closely. This is not about suspicion of everyone who admires a public person. It is about recognizing that visibility changes who is likely to make contact, and why.

What families and family offices can do now

• Agree, once and calmly, how the security team can help with dating and new relationships, and keep it discreet.
• Hold first meetings in public places the principal knows, with someone aware of where they are.
• Do not invite people you have just met to hotel rooms or family homes.
• Watch drinks, and treat sudden, unusual illness as a medical emergency.
• Delay giving new partners codes, keys or fobs, and change them when a relationship ends.
• Protect phones with strong passcodes and remote wipe, and know how to freeze accounts quickly.
• If demands or threats begin, preserve everything and involve the security lead and legal counsel at once.
• If a threat mentions children, review the school run, the home and the children’s routines the same day.

Frequently asked questions

What do recommended HNW security teams do about dating?

They raise the subject once, calmly, and offer discreet help: lawful identity checks if the principal wants them, safe first meetings, rules for hotel rooms and the home, and a plan if a relationship turns into demands or threats. They keep whatever they learn to the smallest possible group.

Is it intrusive to check a new partner?

A basic, lawful check confirms that a person is who they say they are. It does not involve surveillance, and it can be done without the other person knowing. Many principals find it far less intrusive than they expected.

What should someone do if they think they have been drugged?

Get to medical help immediately and tell someone you trust. People around them should treat sudden, unexplained impairment as a medical emergency and call for help.

When does a relationship dispute become a physical security issue?

As soon as threats mention the person, the home, the office or the family, and certainly when they mention children. At that point, the protective posture should be reviewed the same day.

Do court orders keep a family safe?

They are an important legal tool, but they are not a physical barrier. A protection plan should assume that a person may ignore an order and should cover the home, the school run and the principal’s movements accordingly.

Bringing private life into the plan, discreetly

The case in Manhattan will now proceed to sentencing, and the Bogotá case is under investigation. I am not drawing conclusions about the people involved beyond what has been reported. What the reporting shows is how quickly a private meeting or relationship can move from a public place to a private one, and from a private one to a threat against the person or their family.

What recommended HNW security teams do about that is neither intrusive nor dramatic. They offer discreet checks, safe arrangements for first meetings, clear rules for hotel rooms and the home, and a fast, calm response if things go wrong. For the wider program around this, including home security, close protection, travel and the family office, read our complete 2026 overview of high net worth security. If you would like to talk privately about how your family handles this, our executive protection team can help, and you can contact us for a confidential conversation.

Sources

• Fortune, Woman pleads guilty in $1.2 billion plot targeting Wes Edens, co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and Aston Villa, October 16, 2026
• Vanguardia, Estadounidense habria sido drogado y robado en hotel de Bogota, October 20, 2026

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About Michael Braun

Michael Braun is a former Special Unit Operator, former Manager at Gavin de Becker & Associates, and Founder & CEO of MSB Protection, an executive protection and residential security firm serving high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.

Braun has built his career at the intersection of specialized protective operations, executive protection, residential security, protective intelligence, and security risk management. His experience spans special-unit operations, leadership within Gavin de Becker & Associates, and the development and oversight of private protection programs within demanding UHNW environments.

He has been recognized by The Top 100 Magazine as a leading CEO in the private security field and is the subject of an upcoming Marquis Who’s Who feature highlighting his leadership and contributions to the profession.

Today, Braun is recognized for his work in executive protection, UHNW estate security, residential protection, protective intelligence, adversarial security assessments, and security auditing throughout Beverly Hills and Southern California.

His work focuses on moving private security beyond simply “providing a body” and toward intelligence-led, risk-based protection programs designed to identify vulnerabilities before an adversary can exploit them.

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We evaluate the complete security environment, from threat exposure and residential vulnerabilities to personnel, technology, procedures, protective intelligence, and emergency response, and build a program around the risks that actually exist.

Contact us for a confidential consultation or message us at +1 (805) 285-2807.