10 of the highest-paid CEOs in the US – their salaries, ranked: from Apple’s Tim Cook to the CEOs of Microsoft and Adobe – and one female leader with a 9-figure compensation package
It should come as no surprise that it pays to climb your way to the top of the organisational hierarchy.
About halfway through this year’s proxy season, Equilar, the company that analyses data on executive compensation, has revealed that the median compensation package for American CEOs was valued at a cool US$23.7 million in 2023, a jump of 11.4 per cent from the previous year. The data was based on proxy statements filed through March 31.
The jump in compensation was stronger than the 7.7 per cent increase CEOs overall saw at this point last year, according to Equilar data.
1. Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom
Estimated compensation: US$161.8 million
The company had US$35.8 billion in revenue in the financial year of 2023. Tan announced in 2017 that Broadcom would move its headquarters to the US from Singapore; the move was finalised in 2018, per Reuters.
2. Nikesh Arora, Palo Alto Networks
Estimated compensation: US$151.4 million
The value of Arora’s total compensation as CEO of the cybersecurity company came to US$151.4 million, a surge of 1,355 per cent. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 735 to one.
Palo Alto Networks’ revenue reached US$6.89 billion in fiscal 2023. The company’s share price rose 20 per cent year on year after doubling down on its mission of the “platformatization of cybersecurity”, per Yahoo! Finance.
3. Sue Y. Nabi, CEO of Coty
Estimated compensation: US$149.4 million
4. Christopher Winfrey, CEO of Charter Communications
Estimated compensation: US$89.1 million
Winfrey, who took the top spot at the cable company in December 2022, landed a total compensation valued at US$89.1 million. The boss-to-worker pay ratio was 1,635 to one.
In the financial year of 2023, Charter Communications’ revenue came to US$54.6 billion. The company recently announced that customers who port their phone numbers to subsidiary mobile phone operator Spectrum Mobile will have their existing phone balance paid off, up to US$2,500.
5. Will Lansing, CEO of Fair Isaac Corporation
Estimated compensation: US$66.3 million
Lansing runs Fair Isaac Corporation, which developed FICO, the most broadly used model for scoring credit. The value of his total compensation came to US$66.3 million, an increase of 251 per cent. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 653 to one. The company’s revenue totalled US$1.5 billion in the financial year of 2023.
6. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple
Estimated compensation: US$63.2 million
7. Jay Chaudhry, CEO of Zscaler
Estimated compensation: US$57.8 million
The value of Chaudhry’s compensation package for running the cybersecurity company rose 39 per cent to US$57.8 million, while the CEO-to-worker pay ratio stood at 319 to one. The company’s revenue reached US$1.6 billion in the financial year of 2023.
8. Hamid Moghadam, CEO of Prologis
Estimated compensation: US$50.9 million
Moghadam’s compensation package at the logistics real estate company was valued at US$50.9 million, an increase of 6 per cent, and the CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 400 to one. The company’s revenue in the financial year of 2023 came to US$8 billion.
9. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
Estimated compensation: US$48.5 million
10. Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe
Estimated compensation: US$44.9 million
Narayen’s compensation package was valued at US$44.9 million, an increase of 42 per cent. The CEO-to-worker package for the software company was 229 to one. The company’s financial year of 2023 revenue totalled US$19.4 billion.
- Leading a billion-dollar company is no mean feat, with CEOs often having to achieve stratospheric targets and answer to shareholders – but the job comes with some of the heftiest pay packages around
- In the US, the CEOs of tech companies like Apple and Microsoft receive some of the highest compensations, but the beauty company Coty’s boss is making bank too, as are cybersecurity leaders