In this piece, we will take a look at the top twenty highest paid chief executive officers in the world. If you want to jump ahead to the top five highest paid CEOs and skip our analysis of the labor market, head on over to Top 5 Highest Paid CEOs in the World.
The labor market is one of the hottest topics in America right now. This is because its strength is directly tied to the Federal Reserve’s decision to either further raise interest rates, keep them steady at where they are, or cut them down. The strenght of the labor market is an indicator of broader economic strength – as more people spend more money, firms make more money, and they hire more people to expand their operations while increasing salaries at the same time. In a circular motion, these high wages leave people with more spending power, which injects more money into the economy and leads to both growth and high inflation.
At the same time, while salaries have grown by quite a bit in America this past year, they are still nothing in comparison to what those at the top of the corporate food chain earn. And this is despite the fact that 2022 was not a great year for the corporate world, as high growth firms (those whose CEOs often earn the most) saw their revenue falter in an inflationary environment. Looking at the data, the Labor Department’s estimates show that the average salary in the U.S. sits at $61,900. However, as a whole, you might not be surprised to learn that it isn’t the CEOs that make the big bucks. Instead, it’s the cardiologists that earn $421,330 on average, with orthopedic and pediatric surgeons coming in second and third places, respectively. These are of course only salaries, and executive compensation often also includes share options that are worth tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars.
Since there are thousands of companies small and large and each has its own CEO, average salaries for CEO are quite low than what a cardiologist is expected to bring in. And, if we’re to believe estimates from the Labor Department, then there are just 16,870 cardiologists in the U.S. – quite a small figure when we consider that there are 33.2 million small businesses in America. Demand and supply, it seems, work everywhere and not only in the mercantile markets.
Building on this, the top paid CEOs do end up making more money. After all, while operating on a human heart is one of the most complex tasks in the world, a CEO is responsible for handling billions of dollars and ensuring that tens of thousands of employees are able to make a living. And if you were feeling bad for the CEOs when you saw the figures for cardiologists’ average salary, we’ve got just the statistics to lift you up. According to Equilar, the tough economic environment did have an impact on the total compensation for CEOs of S&P 500 companies. Their compensation grew by just 0.9% annually last year, for the slowest increase since 2015. However, it’s not as if the CEOs suddenly saw fiscal misery leaving them unable to contemplate a stable future themselves. Compared to the average cardiologist’s salary of $421,330, an S&P500 CEO made on median 14.8 million in 2022. That’s more than thirty times what an average cardiologist made and a whopping 240 times what an average American can expect to make in a year. Quite a difference, we’d say – leaving the difference in standards of living between the two groups simply unimaginable.
But, as firms cut salaries and laid off employees earlier this year, did their CEOs also reduce their salaries? Well, some of these did with the biggest example coming from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s head Mr. Tim Cook. Mr. Cook is taking a big pay cut this year, and in fact he himself requested his salary be reduced, as Apple noted in an SEC filing:
The Compensation Committee evaluates and makes compensation decisions prior to the start of each fiscal year. The results of the 2022 Say on Pay advisory vote led to broader shareholder engagement on executive compensation in 2022 of approximately 53% of institutional shares held. The Compensation Committee balanced shareholder feedback, Apple’s exceptional performance, and a recommendation from Mr. Cook to adjust his compensation in light of the feedback received. The Compensation Committee then approved the target annual compensation of our named executive officers for 2023, including the following changes to CEO compensation, which Mr. Cook supported, and that the Compensation Committee believes are responsive to shareholder feedback, while continuing both to align pay with performance and to recognize Mr. Cook’s outstanding leadership.
The Apple boss will take 40%+ pay cut this year, leading to his expected total compensation sitting at $49 million this year.
Another executive that took a sizeable cut this year is Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s chief Mr. Patrick Gelsinger. Mr. Gelsinger, who recently took over the reins at Intel, took a 25% base pay cut this year, but the changes did not reflect on his overall compensation which also includes stock awards.
So, which are the most highly paid CEOs in the world? Well, read on below to find out more.
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Our Methodology
To compile our list of the most highly paid CEOs in the world, we used data compiled by CEOWorld Magazine and AFL CIO that lists their total compensation for 2022 and 2021. Then, if any CEO was missing from either list, the compensation figures were sifted from securities filings. They were then averaged for the two years. CEO pay varies a lot from year to year which is why we believe we get a clearer picture by using average compensation figures over two years.
Top 20 Highest Paid CEOs in the World
20. George Kurtz
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $148 million
George Kurtz leads the firm CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD). Crowdstrike is a software company headquartered in Austin, Texas. The firm enables corporate customers to manage their workloads. Insider Monkey dug through 943 hedge funds for their first quarter of 2023 shareholdings to find out that 72 had held a stake in CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD). Along with its CEO’s high package, CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) was one of the few firms that managed to avoid layoffs earlier this year amidst a broader wave in the technology industry.
19. Robert A. Kotick
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $148.44 million
Robert Kotick is the CEO of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), one of the largest video game companies in the world. His compensation in 2022 was a mere $178,000 as he requested all awards be stopped until his company’s share price improves.
18. Peter Kern
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $157 million
Peter Kern is at the helm of affairs at Expedia Group, one of the most popular and successful travel companies in the world.
17. Barry McCarthy
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $168 million
Barry McCarthy leads the embattled fitness firm Peloton Interactive, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTON). Peloton provides remote workout groups and classes as well as sells its own equipment to aid users to connect with each other while exercising. However, Mr. McCarthy did not oversee the firm’s misery. Instead, he was offered the stunning $168 million package as part of efforts by Peloton Interactive, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTON) to lure him out of the comfortable life of retirement.
16. Tan Hock Eng
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $174 million
Tan Hock Eng, also known as Hock E. Tan, is the CEO of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO). Broadcom is a large semiconductor company that makes and sells communications and other products used in smartphones, laptops, and other products.
15. Joseph Bae
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $179.45 million
Joseph Bae leads the investment firm KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR). The firm has more than half a trillion dollars of assets under management.
14. Satya Nadella
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $182 million
Satya Nadella heads one of the largest technology companies in the world, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Under his leadership, Microsoft has set up a successful cloud computing division and focused away from a flailing smartphone business.
13. Thomas Siebel
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $184.9 million
Thomas Siebel is the CEO of C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI), a software company that enables firms to deploy and develop AI platforms.
12. Jason Kelly
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $191 million
Jason Kelly is the head of the biotechnology firm Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DNA). His company is one of the rare ones that is developing products that make cells generate substances used in a variety of industries such as food and healthcare. However, Mr. Kelly is currently facing a tough time as investors are wary about his company’s ability to deliver. This has caused Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DNA)’s shares to tank on the stock market, dropping from a peak share price in excess of $13 per share to less than $2 per share these days.
11. Safra Catz
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $143 million
Safra Catz heads one of the biggest enterprise software and products firms in the world Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL). Oracle’s founder Mr. Larry Ellison is one of the richest people in the world. His company provides a cloud platform on the software as a service platform. This enables firms to conduct their daily operations such as generating invoices and managing logistics. As of this year’s first quarter, 67 of the 943 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey had held a stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL).
10. Leonard S. Schleifer
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $229.95 million
Leonard S. Schleifer is the top boss at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN). The firm develops treatments for diseases such as glaucoma and cancer.
9. Marc Benioff
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $234.64 million
Marc Benioff is the CEO of the customer relationship software platform provider Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM).
8. Reed Hastings
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $252 million
Reed Hastings is the former CEO and also the co founder of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). He retired earlier this year.
7. Peter Rawlinson
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $288 million
Peter Rawlinson is the chief executive officer of another electric vehicle company and one that is further ahead in the race to market than Rivian. He heads the car company Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCID), which is aiming to target the high end, luxury electric vehicle market. Lucid has a strong backing of the Saudi government, and Mr. Rawlinson has previously worked at Tesla. He is British by birth and has worked at other illustrious car companies as well such as Jaguar and Lotus Cars.
6. Jen-Hsun Huang
Average Total and Realized Compensation in 2021 & 2022: $292.25 million
Mr. Jen-Hsun Huang, commonly called Jensen Huang, is the CEO of one of the most important companies today, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA).
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Disclosure: None. Top 20 Highest Paid CEOs in the World is originally published on Insider Monkey.
