Gavin de Becker is a renowned security specialist who founded Gavin de Becker and Associates in 1978, a firm providing protection to public figures, governments, and corporations, including high-profile clients like Jeff Bezos, Bill Cosby, Olivia Newton-John, Cher, and John Travolta. He developed the MOSAIC threat assessment system with the US Marshals Service in the 1980s and has served as a three-time presidential appointee, including to the President's Advisory Board at the US Department of Justice (1982, 1989) and the USO Board of Governors (1989). He is also a senior fellow at UCLA School of Public Policy, a senior advisor to RAND Corporation and Bystander Revolution, and has acted as an expert witness in notable cases such as the O.J. Simpson trial and the Rebecca Schaeffer murder. A reported billionaire, de Becker is the author of several bestselling books on safety and security, including The Gift of Fear (1997), Protecting the Gift (1999), Fear Less (2002), Just 2 Seconds (2008), Destruction of Innocence (2013), and the forthcoming Forbidden Facts (2025). Born on October 26, 1954, in Los Angeles, California, to dancer and writer Hal de Becker (1931–2021) and a mother who struggled with heroin addiction, he endured a traumatic childhood marked by his parents' divorce at age three, physical abuse, his mother's shooting of his stepfather at age 10, and her suicide when he was 16. He then lived with family friend Miguel Ferrer and attended Beverly Hills High School alongside Carrie Ferrer and Carrie Fisher, with no verified higher education. Married since 2007 with two sons, he has also raised eight adopted adult children. Past romantic links include Alanis Morissette and Geena Davis in the 1990s, and notable friendships encompass George Harrison (who died at de Becker's home), Brooke Shields, and Carrie Fisher (for whom he delivered the eulogy and officiated her daughter's wedding). Politically, he has donated to both Democrats and Republicans, including $5,000 to Andrew Cuomo (2019), $5,000 to Ron Johnson (2022), $6,000 to Duke Aiona (2022), and substantial support to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 campaign via a super PAC ($4.5 million in 2023 and $10 million in 2024, with $9.65 million returned as bridge funding). He has no personal arrests, convictions, or scandals, though his firm has faced unrelated lawsuits.