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The “legends” profiled herein include highly successful founders and leaders of the dominant security services companies in the United States and Europe from the mid-nineteenth century until today. We have focused primarily on legends who built companies that rose to prominence as leading suppliers of contract security guard services, although most of the companies have or continue to provide additional physical and investigative security services.

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No chapter abstract available.

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Allan Pinkerton was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1819, and his early life was marked by poverty after his father passed away when Allan was a young boy. A trade unionist, in 1842, Allan and his wife, Joan, fled to Canada, then to the Chicago area when he was subject to arrest for political activity. While working as a barrel maker, Allan gained local fame when he stumbled upon a counterfeit operation. He was appointed to several law enforcement positions in Illinois, and, in 1850, established what would be the first national detective agency. The agency rose to prominence as it obtained many lucrative contracts investigating and protecting the interests of railroad, banking, and mining companies. Devoted to the anti-slavery cause, Allan served the Union, working as the director of counterintelligence during the Civil War. His agents uncovered and foiled a plot to assassinate President Lincoln. Allan Pinkerton worked until his passing in 1884. His leadership and management skills enabled him to create a security services dynasty that he and his descendants directly controlled from its founding in 1850 until 1967. The Pinkerton agency was at various times either the largest or second largest domestic U.S. security company. The Pinkerton brand survives today as the risk management division of Securitas AB and is considered the most famous name in the history of the U.S. security industry.

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William J. Burns was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1861. His father Michael was elected police commissioner in Columbus, Ohio, where William took an early interest in detective work. Hanging around the police station and dabbling in police work, at age 17, William solved a burglary case. He then followed his early fascination with crime and law enforcement to become, in his day, the most famous detective in the United States. He built his reputation, and then his firm, upon the kudos earned from solving numerous sensational cases, small and large, which made headlines throughout his career. When William founded the company that bore his surname in 1909, he quickly secured the lucrative American Bankers Association contract away from Pinkerton. Several other large contracts, resulting in expansion to many offices, propelled the company into a powerful firm in direct competition with the large and established Pinkerton agency. A household name, his abilities as a detective culminated in his appointment as Director of the Bureau of Investigation (precursor to the FBI). After some involvement with the Teapot Dome scandal, in 1924, William retired from the bureau; his sons Raymond J. Burns and William S. Burns would take over the day-to-day operations of the Burns agency. From its inception, the company prospered and, until sold in 2000 to Securitas, it was one of the largest providers of security services in the world. The company would have tens of thousands of security officers guarding many industrial and commercial facilities.

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No chapter abstract available.

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George R. Wackenhut was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 3, 1919. After naval service that included being stationed at Pearl Harbor during the attack, George became an FBI agent, where he gained a reputation as a determined and competent agent. Looking to earn more money for his family, George began work in 1954 at a small investigative agency in South Florida. Soon, George founded what began as a small investigative firm into The Wackenhut Corporation, for which he recruited a large team of talented executives and secured and retained numerous large contracts with major industrial, government, and commercial customers. Under his leadership, and intelligent and hard work, by the last full fiscal year prior to the company’s acquisition in 2002 by Group 4 Falck, The Wackenhut Corporation, together with its affiliates, was the largest U.S.-based global security services provider. Total global security sales exceeded $1.2 billion, with the company operating in 142 offices in the United States, in approximately 40 countries around the world.

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Ira A. Lipman was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on November 15, 1940. He founded Guardsmark in 1963 at the age of 22. His passion for the security business is best understood in the context of his early life, as he began in the security services industry as a young boy working for his father, Mark Lipman, who had established a small, but thriving, investigative service. Ira would lead Guardsmark to be one of the largest security guard companies in the United States, noted for the quality of service it provided to numerous major institutions and Fortune 500 companies. Its superlatives led many in the industry to refer to Guardsmark as the Tiffany’s of security companies. Underpinning his accomplishments in building a major security company, Ira was a highly principled individual who was devoted to promoting professionalism in the security industry. He was a humanitarian, philanthropist, and a loved and respected family man. He achieved remarkable success, and at its peak in 2015, when he sold Guardsmark to AlliedBarton, it topped $500 million in revenues, had 18,000 employees, and more than 125 offices serving 400 cities in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom.

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Tom was born in Vincennes, Indiana, on October 5, 1929. He began his security career while in the Air Force, but achieved his legendary status by transforming a small, California-based security company into a leading national firm, culminating in the acquisition of Pinkerton’s. Tom’s legendary career was marked by his enthusiastic leadership and the personal qualities he used in the development of a major security services company. The late Donald W. Walker, a noted industry luminary, told the authors that “Tom was more of a risk taker than I thought. He was an entrepreneur, with an engaging and charismatic personality. He was a man who meant what he said, and who you could take at his word. He loved the security industry and held a deep commitment with the security officers.” On February 22, 1999, when Pinkerton’s announced an agreement to sell the company to Securitas AB of Sweden, it had approximately 48,000 employees and revenues over $1 billion.

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No chapter abstract available.

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Charles R. “Chuck” Schneider was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 1940. After obtaining a degree in engineering from Penn State University, he served in the U.S. Navy. After his honorable discharge, he worked as a manager for several divisions of the Norlin Company, including Gibson Guitar Company. Chuck began his security industry career in 1978 as an executive with Baker Industries, which was acquired by Borg-Warner and operated largely under the Wells Fargo brand, and from 1982 also under Burns International. Chuck was at Borg-Warner until 1993, as chief executive officer of Borg-Warner’s Protective Service division. In 1993, Chuck co-founded U.S. Security Associates, Inc., where he served until 2014 as chairman and chief executive officer, and until 2018 as chairman of the board of directors. Chuck was particularly adept at applying lessons learned to manage better, and to lead staff and entire divisions and companies. He used his analytical mind to design solutions and to simplify those things that were complex. Along with co-founder, Kenneth W. Oringer, he built U.S. Security Associates from an initial investment into the fourth largest security company in the United States. When it was acquired on October 16, 2018, by Allied Universal, for a reported $1 billion, U.S. Security employed more than 50,000 security professionals and had generated 2017 revenues of approximately $1.5 billion.

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Kenneth W. Oringer, (Ken), was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1931. Ken recognized early on that education would form a foundation for his future success and he earned a BS in accounting at the prestigious Stern School of Business at New York University (NYU) in 1951. During the Korean War, his deferred draft status allowed him to earn a J.D. degree at Fordham Law, and in 1954, he was admitted to the New York State Bar. That year, Ken began service in the U.S. Army, where he honorably served the country until 1956. After a distinguished career in finance that included progressive promotions at major firms, including Arthur Young and Indian Head Mills, Ken’s security industry career began in 1978 at Baker Industries, which was acquired by Borg-Warner Corporation, and largely operated under the Wells Fargo brand. In 1993, Ken co-founded U.S. Security Associates, where his hard work, dedication to his education and profession, and ability as a negotiator and financial executive allowed him to achieve extraordinary success. By the time of his retirement in 2014, Ken negotiated and structured more than 50 acquisitions, enabling U.S. Security Associates to become the nation’s fourth largest security services company with revenues of more than $1.3 billion.

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William C. Whitmore Jr., (Bill), was born in Pennsylvania, on March 7, 1952. After eight years as a police officer, Bill got his first security industry job at SpectaGuard, a regional security firm based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. He began as an assistant security director at the Spectrum arena and moved up quickly, becoming security director, then director of operations and vice president of operations, before becoming chief operating officer in 1990. From 1990 to 2016 significant changes would occur at the company. With organic growth and strategic acquisitions, the company—operating as Allied Security and then AlliedBarton Security—would become a multibillion-dollar, leading, and admired security company. Bill became a chief operating officer, and in 2003, president and chief executive officer, as well as chairman in 2006. By 2016, when AlliedBarton merged with Universal Services, to form Allied Universal, AlliedBarton had more than 60,000 employees and revenues of more than $2.2 billion.

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Were it not for a chance encounter with Thomas Wathen (Chapter 5) at a business association meeting that led to Albert J. “Al” Berger’s appointment by the Wathen-led CPP Security as a director in 1975, his legendary security career may not have occurred. During much of his career, which began in the late 1950s, Al was a successful chemical and industrial company executive and owner; and his transition to the security industry came later. Al would serve as a board member from 1975 to 1994 at CPP and Pinkerton, as president at Pinkerton from 1999 to 1994; as a partner at Gryphon which bought SpectaGuard and Allied Security, and operated under those names as well as AlliedBarton during various years when he served as chief executive officer from 1998 to 2003, as chairman until 2006, and until 2008 as a director. At CPP, Al was instrumental in overseeing the acquisition of Pinkerton. He would turnaround the company, and within 18 months was instrumental in bringing the company public. As chief executive officer at SpectaGuard and Allied, he served as a mentor to Bill Whitmore. He led with a mission focus, obtaining the ambitious goals he set during an impactful security industry career.

Pages: 55

No chapter abstract available.

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Jørgen Philip-Sørensen was born in Malmo, Sweden, on September 23, 1938. Also known as Philip to his friends and as JPS in professional life, he was active in the security services industry for over five decades starting from the late 1950s. A bold, determined, and focused businessman, JPS was extremely interested in people and had an inquisitive nature. JPS entered the security business as a security guard and in 1958, moved to Birmingham, UK, where his father sent him to work. Along with the contributions of his father and grandfather, JPS represents the third generation of Philip-Sørensens who made their name nearly synonymous with the global security industry. The Philip-Sørensen family was in large part responsible for creating the Europe-based global security powerhouses Securitas and Group 4 Securicor, later known as G4S. JPS and his father, Erik Philip-Sørensen, played major roles in the development of professionalism in international security, notably through their substantial participation and contributions at the International Security Ligue. Waldemar Schmidt, an accomplished global business leader and friend of JPS, said: While Group 4’s major competitors acquired security companies at high prices in Europe and America, Philip established Group 4 subsidiaries in many fast-growing new world countries with his cunning strategy. Philip achieved his life’s ambition through the mergers with Falck and Securicor: to become chairman and largest shareholder of the world’s largest security company. Group 4 Securicor, as it was known when JPS retired in 2006, had revenues in the full fiscal year 2005 of $7 billion.

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Lars Nørby Johansen (Lars) was born on August 16, 1949, in Nyborg, Denmark. He began his security career in 1988, as chief executive officer of Falck Redningskorps (Falck Rescue Corps) A/S. and Falck Holding A/S. While chief executive at Falck and at successor entities, Lars both rescued the safety division from near collapse and transformed the company from a small Denmark-based fire safety, rescue, and assistance company into a world-leading global security services power. Lars oversaw Falck’s masterful strategy and execution, starting with the 1993 acquisition of Denmark’s leading security company, ISS Security, to create a platform for additional European expansion. After building European operations, Lars accomplished global growth with the 2000 merger of Falck with Group 4, followed by the acquisition of U.S.-based Wackenhut in 2002 and the 2004 acquisition of London-based Securicor. The combined moves, along with ongoing organic growth, resulted in the creation of global security services power Group 4 Securicor, with revenues of approximately $5.5 billion, operating in over 100 countries with over 360,000 employees. Falck demerged from Group 4 in 2004 at the time of the Securicor merger. While Lars exited the security industry in 2005, he remained as chairman of Falck until 2014. Lars found his fondest business experiences in the safety and rescue business. He has continued to serve as a chairman and director on numerous boards of major European companies and organizations. The Nørby Committee, which he chaired, was named after Lars; it was the first Danish national corporate governance committee. His impact on corporate management and governance will be felt for generations to come.

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Thomas F. Berglund was born on June 18, 1952, in Stockholm, Sweden. After an early career in government, he became employed by Swedish security company Securitas in 1984. He rose through the ranks of the company, becoming chief executive officer in 1993. From 1993 until 2007, Securitas grew organically and through acquisitions, rapidly expanding first in Europe and then in the United States. Upon acquiring Pinkerton and Burns in 1999 and 2000 respectively, Securitas became the leading security services company in North America and the world. Accounting for currency changes, Securitas sales in 1994, Berglund’s first full year as chief executive officer, climbed from 6834 MSEK (Million Swedish Krona), or approximately $900 million, to 60,235 MSEK, or approximately $8.6 billion, in his last full year as chief executive officer in 2006. The company achieved this record of growth in large part by adhering to a model which company management developed under his leadership and then was implemented throughout the organization in a systematic fashion. Thomas led by being true to his own values and by shaping the company’s values. Thomas said the motivation for his success came “from seeing his own people succeed; to give meaning to every employee in the organization. It is in building something together that we lift each other, giving employees something more than a pay raise.”

Pages: 55

No chapter abstract available.

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Helena Revoredo Delvecchio (Helena) is a highly educated business leader, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. Helena and her late husband, Herberto Gut (Herberto), were born in Rosario, Argentina, and were graduates of the Catholic University of Buenos Aires before they moved to Spain in 1976, where Herberto founded Prosegur SA, now one of the world’s largest security service companies. Helena became a company director at Prosegur in 1997 after Herberto passed away after a tragic car accident. She became company president in 2004 and has provided strategic guidance to the firm since then. Her son Christian has been company CEO since 2008. Helena is the only female legend profiled in this book. She has a fondness for undertaking new projects and taking risks and has said that “business life satisfies me a lot.” In a male-dominated industry, Helena has been able to break the mold. Her strong will, perseverance, and talent as a manager are a beacon for anyone who seeks to succeed in the security services industry. She has imparted strong family values to her children. The Prosegur Foundation, founded in 1983 by Helena and her late husband, has been active in promoting social and education projects throughout Prosegur’s global service area.

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Stephan Crétier (Stephan) was born in Montreal on August 8, 1963. He once described himself as “more a businessperson who has experience in security than a security person who became a businessperson.” Either way, he came to be quite adept and knowledgeable as a security services leader. The Canadian-born Crétier transitioned from work as a baseball umpire and part-time store detective to a career in security. A tough competitor, Stephan learned early to pick his fights. Stephan noted that his education—an MBA from Florida State—gave him a good understanding of business, but doing it in the United States gave him “maybe a more American style of doing business, which is more predatory than the usual culture in Canada.” In Canada, he said, “you grow a business, and you just sell it. I’m more in the philosophy of building empires than trying to just build a company and flip it.”

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Steve Jones (Steve) was born in Livermore, California, in 1969. With his dream of becoming an NFL football player derailed by a series of injuries, and his scholarship pulled while playing football for California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), Steve struggled to complete his degree there. After doing so, he entered the business world. As his business career unfolded Steve realized that “opportunities abound for those willing to put in the work and take the risks,” and after six successful years in sales and executive management for two Fortune 500 firms, he began his security career in 1996, as an executive with Universal Protection Service (Universal). The company was then a small Orange County, California, security company with $12 million in sales. His journey in building the company into the world’s largest security services company has been spectacular and can be attributed to hard work, business savvy, and successfully taking a series of calculated risks.

Pages: 31

No chapter abstract available.

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This chapter reaffirms the qualities and attributes that the legends exhibited in building the leading security companies of their day. Each legend acquired skills, persevered, and capitalized on opportunities. We summarize their tenure as leaders in the industry and what they did afterward, as well as what happened to their companies. The chapter illustrates that while the legends shared many qualities and attributes, they also had unique leadership styles that impacted their respective companies.

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Our concluding chapter contains information on the growing demand for security services, changes in technology to counteract increased global risk, and resulting opportunities for entrepreneurs and managers in the contract security, alarm, and service industry. The stories of the legends provide us with insight into what it takes to build and lead large security companies; tomorrow’s leaders can apply lessons learned to build new companies to meet the continuing demand for security in a turbulent world.