Compensation for big-company CEOs continues to rise, growing 11.4% to a median $23.7 million in 2023, Equilar said. Here are the highest-paid chiefs.
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No surprise: It pays to climb your way to the top of the org chart.
The highest-paid CEOs in the US aren't necessarily household names, but they're enjoying some pretty sweet pay packages — more than enough to avoid worries about higher prices for that morning coffee.
Take Hock Tan, head of chipmaker Broadcom. The value of his pay package was $161.8 million in 2023. Tan topped a list of the 100 highest-paid chiefs from Equilar, which analyzes data on executive compensation.
But though many compensation numbers are big, it's not all cash. Amit Batish, senior director of content and communications at Equilar, told Business Insider that much of the top dogs' hauls come through stock awards.
"That's kind of the bread and butter of executive compensation these days," he said.
To get the payouts, CEOs often have to achieve targets such as stock price thresholds.
About halfway through this year's proxy season, the median compensation package for CEOs on Equilar's list — comprised of companies with revenue of $1 billion or more — was valued at a cool $23.7 million in 2023, a jump of 11.4% from the prior year. The data were based on proxy statements filed through March 31.
The jump in compensation was stronger than the 7.7% increase CEOs overall saw at this point last year, according to Equilar data.
There are still some high-wattage chiefs a bit farther down the list, like Apple's Tim Cook, who comes in at No. 6 with compensation valued at $63.2 million, or Satya Nadella, the Microsoft CEO, at No. 9 with total comp valued at $48.5 million. But they haven't yet made it to the very top yet, according to Equilar.
Here are some of the highest-paid — and highest-profile — CEOs.
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The value of Tan's total compensation jumped to $161.8 million in 2023, a 167% increase over the prior year, according to Equilar. The pay ratio — how much more he takes home than the average employee of the chip and software maker — was 510 to 1.
The company had $35.8 billion in revenue in fiscal 2023.
Reuters Staff
The value of Arora's total compensation as CEO of the cybersecurity company came to $151.4 million, a surge of 1,355%, according to Equilar. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 735 to 1.
Revenue reached $6.89 billion in fiscal 2023.
David M. Benett/Getty Images
Nabi runs the beauty company Coty. The value of her compensation package was $149.4 million, an increase of 4,100%, according to Equilar. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 3,769 to 1.
Revenue came to $5.55 billion in fiscal 2023.
Courtesy Charter Communications
Winfrey, who took the top spot at the cable company in December 2022, landed total compensation valued at $89.1 million. The boss-to-worker pay ratio was 1,635 to 1, according to Equilar.
In fiscal 2023, revenue came to $54.6 billion.
Courtesy FICO
Lansing runs Fair Isaac Corp., which developed FICO, the most broadly used model for scoring credit. The value of his total compensation came to $66.3 million, an increase of 251%, according to Equilar. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 653 to 1.
The company's revenue totaled $1.5 billion in fiscal 2023.
A FICO spokesperson, through a statement to BI, said, in part: "Under Mr. Lansing's leadership the past 10 years, FICO has delivered total shareholder return that is in the top 1% of the S&P 500. Meanwhile, his base salary for 2023 was $750,000, well below industry peers and in the bottom quartile of S&P 500 CEOs."
Michael M Santiago/Getty Images
Cook's total compensation for running the tech giant was valued at $63.2 million, a drop of 36%, according to Equilar. The pay ratio was 672 to 1.
The company's revenue totaled $383.3 billion in fiscal 2023.
Zscaler
The value of Chaudhry's compensation package for running the cybersecurity company rose 39% to $57.8 million, according to Equilar. And the CEO-to-worker pay ratio stood at 319 to 1.
The company's top reached $1.6 billion in fiscal 2023.
Prologis
Moghadam's compensation package at the logistics real estate company was valued at $50.9 million, an increase of 6%. And the CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 400 to 1.
The company's revenue in fiscal 2023 came to $8 billion.
Axel Springer
Nadella's total comp was valued at $48.5 million, a drop of 12%. The chief-to-worker ratio was 250 to 1.
The software giant's revenue was $211.9 billion in fiscal 2023.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Narayen's compensation package was valued at $44.9 million, an increase of 42%. The CEO-to-worker package for the software company was 229 to 1.
The company's fiscal 2023 revenue totaled $19.4 billion.
