Everything A-list
Today we are speaking with acclaimed security expert and renowned executive protection mogul Kent Moyer, CEO of The World Protection Group, Inc. & 001. When it comes to protecting high-net-worth individuals and celebrity clients, Kent Moyer has got the 411 on everything A-list.
LA CONFIDENTIAL: Kent, can you tell me a bit about your background?
KENT MOYER: My first job in this industry was working for Playboy, protecting Mr. Hugh Hefner and his family at the Playboy Mansion. Today, I am CEO of
The World Protection Group and the recently formed 001, a luxury Executive Protection company that specializes in protecting high-net-worth and celebrity clients. As a graduate of the Wharton Business School Advanced Management Program, I have studied Strategic Management of Luxury Businesses at Wharton and at the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy. Over the last eighteen years, I have worked extensively in law enforcement, while operating as a specialist in Dignitary Protection & Intelligence.
Tell me about your new company, 001.
KM: 001 is like the American Express Black Card of Executive Protection. Our tagline is: “We Protect Your Lifestyle.” As the first luxury company in the Executive Protection Industry, I studied numerous luxury brands at The Wharton School & Bocconi such as Armani, Porsche, Mercedes, Bvlgari, Chopar any & Co., Pagani, and Ferrari, along with many others. With 001, I wanted to create an exceptional company that was unlike anything else in the industry. To achieve this, I educated myself on The Ritz-Carlton Gold Standard of Operations, a style of sophisticated customer service in which each of our employees has been trained and a process which informed the creation of 001.
What is your feeling about the current quality of Hollywood Celebrity Protection?
KM: Most of it is terrible. I have a saying: “Drain the Bodyguard/Buddyguard Swamp.” There are Bodyguards who have become “Buddyguards.”
Go to YouTube and you can see the dysfunctional, eclectic protection, where bodyguards (who to me are untrained thugs getting into ‘use of force’ incidents) are selling information on the celebrities to the tabloids and posting pictures with their celebrity clients on Twitter. As professionals, we must maintain a strict barrier between the client and ourselves. One of the basic principles of protection is guarding a client’s confidentiality. WPG & 001 have formally trained Executive Protection Agents that do not engage in that type of “Buddyguard” behavior.
What are your thoughts on Client Confidentiality?
KM: It is the most important element in a relationship with a client. If you cannot protect their confidentiality, how can you perform physical protection? What people don’t know about the celebrity industry is that a dysfunctional, untrained security guard will do anything to break a news story where they get to talk about their client. They’ll even write a book about them! I get paid not to write the book.
What is the most exciting or rewarding moment in your history of providing protection?
KM: My company has been involved in three counterterrorism cases and has prevented several terrorist attacks in the U.S., which I am not at leisure to name. What I enjoy most is the behind-the-scenes work with law enforcement and the FBI on those cases. Those cases never hit the media. Our goal is to keep it out of the media. In that regard, we are 100% proactive and preventative in our work.