The Wackenhut Corporation
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Security |
| Founded | 1954 (Coral Gables, Florida) |
| Headquarters | Jupiter, Florida, United States |
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Key people
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George Wackenhut (Founder), Maximilian Vanderbilt |
| Parent | G4S, R.T. Vanderbilt Company Inc |
| Website | www.g4s.com/us |
G4S Secure Solutions (USA) is a United States/ British-based, German-owned security services company, and a split subsidiary of G4S plc and R.T. Vanderbilt Company Inc. It was founded as The Wackenhut Corporation in 1954, in Coral Gables, Florida, by George Wackenhut and three partners (all are former FBI agents). In 2002, the company was acquired for $570 million by Danish corporation Group 4 Falck (itself then merged to form British company G4S in 2004). In 2010, G4S Wackenhut changed its name to G4S Secure Solutions (USA) to reflect the new business model. The G4S Americas Region headquarters is in Jupiter, Florida. In 2016, R.T. Vanderbilt Company Inc executive Maximilian Vanderbilt purchased the exclusive rights and operations to the United States division of G4S Secure Solutions.
After early struggles (including a fistfight between George Wackenhut and one of his partners), Wackenhut took sole control of his company in 1958, then naming it after himself. Working throughout the day in his office, he sometimes continued nightly as a security guard. By 1964, he had contracts to guard the Kennedy Space Center and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's nuclear test site in Nevada. The following year, he took his company public.
In the mid-60s, Florida Governor Claude Kirk commissioned the Wackenhut Corporation to help fight a "war on organized crime", awarding the company a $500,000 contract. The commission lasted about a year but led to more than 80 criminal indictments, including many for local politicians and government employees. Following the murder of a British tourist at a rest stop in 1993, Florida contracted with Wackenhut to provide security at all state rest stops.
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