--- title: "Paranoid Elon Musk Now Constantly Surrounded by 20 Armed Bodyguards and a Medic" description: "As his infamy grows, Elon Musk has apparently resorted to employing a massive security team to fend off would-be attackers. " date: "2024-09-14" modified: "2024-09-14" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-armed-bodyguards-security" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "assassination" - "elon musk" - "security" - "the digest" --- # Paranoid Elon Musk Now Constantly Surrounded by 20 Armed Bodyguards and a Medic ![As his infamy grows, Elon Musk has apparently resorted to employing a massive security team to fend off would-be attackers. ]() *FNEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 8: Elon Musk attends the men's final on day fourteen of the 2024 US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center on September 8, 2024 in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/GC Images) \Image: Jean Catuffe/GC Images\* ## Safety First As his public profile grows ever larger, Elon Musk has apparently resorted to employing a massive security team to fend off would-be attackers. As the [*New York Times* reports]() based on insider interviews and leaked documents from both Tesla and the police, Musk's private security force has ballooned in recent years as the billionaire responds to his growing fame — and [infamy](). In the wake of an alleged [planned mass shooting at a Cybertruck event]() last November, for example, Musk employed more than three dozen Tesla security personnel and bodyguards from Foundation Security, a [shady private firm he also owns](). With that outfit, which appears to have [existed since at least 2018](), Musk has built his own miniature Secret Service, the newspaper notes, with his security treating him more like a political leader than a CEO. At times, the multi-hyphenate business owner — codenamed "Voyager," like the [distant NASA spacecraft]() — has as many as 20 weapon-toting bodyguards flanking him, often joined by a medical professional. ## Iron Coward During a shareholder meeting earlier this year, the "Iron Man" suggested that threats on his life seemed to be getting nuttier. "The probability that a homicidal maniac will try to kill you is proportionate to how many homicidal maniacs hear your name," Musk said during the June meeting. “So they hear my name a lot — I’m like, ‘OK, I’m on the list,’ you know.” As the [*New York Post* reported at the time](), Musk went on to say that two such "maniacs" plotted attempts on his life over the course of "roughly seven months" — a general timeline that may have included the would-be Cybertruck mass shooter. "\[I\] actually did have two homicidal maniacs in the last roughly seven months come to aspirationally try to kill me, and a bunch of other people," he said, "so it’s not just me." After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a July rally in Pennsylvania, [Musk again mentioned the foiled attempts]() on his own life and offered a tongue-in-cheek suggestion to "[beef up]()" his security. "Maybe it’s time to build that flying metal suit of armor," [he tweeted](), referencing the Marvel character of Iron Man. While there's little doubt that some of these threats are real, it seems pretty paranoid that he's now traveling with a phalanx of bodyguards and a medic — but then again, paranoia seems to be [more central to his worldview]() than ever before. **More on Muskian anxieties:** [*Elon Musk Makes Embarrassingly Stupid Claim: If Trump Loses, Humanity Will Never Make It to Mars*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()