Zuckerberg Said to Have “Panic Chute” for Escape From Facebook HQ

"They pretend to be software engineers, but everyone knows that they are security guards."

Panic Chute

A Business Insider investigation into Facebook's security practices provides a riveting look at how the company protects its celebrity executives — but the strangest revelations were about the company's extraordinary efforts to keep CEO Mark Zuckerberg safe.

One persistent rumor exemplifies the company's apparent paranoia: Workers at the social media giant claim that the company's security staff installed a secret "panic chute" at the company's headquarters that Zuckerberg's security detail can use to evacuate him in the case of an emergency.

Zuck Truck

Facebook's executive-protection team is run by a former U.S. Secret Service special agent named Jill Leavens Jones, according to BI, and she has serious resources to protect Zuckerberg, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and others — including a $10 million annual budget dedicated solely to protecting the CEO and his family.

That funding has led to some futuristic security features, according to BI's investigation.

In addition to the rumored panic chute, Zuckerberg himself has access to a room with bullet-resistant windows and a "panic button." Nobody is allowed to park in the spot in the parking garage directly below his desk for fear of car bombs.

Friends Forever

The strangest takeaway from the story, though, isn't what Facebook does to protect Zuckerberg from stalkers and potential threats — it's the company's efforts to protect him from Facebook employees themselves, who aren't even allowed to take photos of the enigmatic CEO.

"If you've ever been close to his office, you'll see there are big burly people sitting there staring at screens," one Facebook employee wrote on Quora. "They pretend to be software engineers, but everyone knows that they are security guards."

More on Zuckerberg: Mark Zuckerberg Insists That Facebook Promotes Privacy

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