5 Highest Paid CEOs in the US and Their College Degrees

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1. Elon Musk

College Degree: Physics and Economics

Elon Musk serves as the founder, chairman, CEO, and CTO of SpaceX. Musk is also the angel investor, CEO, and former chairman of Tesla, Inc., along with being the owner, executive chairman, and CTO of X Corp. Additionally, he founded the Boring Company and xAI, and co-founded Neuralink and OpenAI. 

A Delaware judge recently invalidated Elon Musk’s $55.8 billion compensation package at Tesla, sparking a 2 percent drop in Tesla’s stocks before they rebounded to $187 a share. Musk’s pay deal, established in 2018 and set to be disbursed over a decade upon meeting certain benchmarks, became the largest in US corporate history. It elevated Musk to the world’s wealthiest position as he met all 12 targets by 2023. However, the judge deemed the amount “unfathomable,” signaling potential consequences for Tesla’s leadership and Musk’s standing. Musk’s worth increased to an estimated $198 billion to $220 billion by November, fueled by Tesla’s valuation of $596 billion and his personal stake of over 12%.

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