Highest-paid CEOs in America
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Highest-paid CEOs in America
Tim Cook attends ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 3 premiere.
Among the most hotly contested debates in America is what to make of the vast discrepancy between the salaries of the country’s top-earning CEOs and the average workers at their companies.
CEO compensation rose nearly 1,045% between 1978 and 2022, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute released in September 2023. Their findings showed that CEOs made 344 times as much as a typical worker in 2022, a massive spike from the 21-1 ratio in 1965. Amid the United Auto Workers strike in the fall of 2023, for example, NPR reported that General Motors CEO Mary Barra’s 2022 salary was 362 times that of the median GM employee.
That ratio widens even further when looking at companies with lower median wages. In an in-depth analysis of the 100 S&P 500 corporations with the lowest median worker pay levels in 2022, the Institute for Policy Studies found that the average CEO-worker pay gap was 603-to-1.
To see which CEOs make the most money in the U.S., Stacker analyzed data from the AFL-CIO to determine the 20 highest-paid CEOs nationwide. All pay data is for 2023. Any CEOs who did not still hold their position as of August 2024 were excluded.
You’ll notice some of the biggest names in business, like Tesla CEO Elon Musk (who’s currently in a legal battle regarding his $56 billion pay package) and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (whose salary is technically $1 per year), are not on the list. But who did make the cut? Read on to see how much the chief executives of top companies made.
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#25. Satya Nadella (Microsoft Corp.)
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addresses shareholders during Microsoft Shareholders Meeting in 2014.
– CEO pay: $48,512,537
– Median worker pay: $194,050
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 250:1
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#24. Robert Antokol (Playtika Holding Corp.)
Playtika logo on phone.
– CEO pay: $48,989,446
– Median worker pay: $98,769
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 496:1
Patrick T. Fallon // AFP via Getty Images
#23. David Michery (Mullen Automotive Inc.)
David Michery, CEO and founder of Mullen Automotive, speaks during AutoMobility LA ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show in 2021.
– CEO pay: $49,629,463
– Median worker pay: $61,959
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 801:1
Slaven Vlasic // Getty Images for The New York Times
#22. David M. Zaslav (Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.)
David Zaslav speaks onstage during The New York Times Dealbook Summit 2023 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
– CEO pay: $49,702,546
– Median worker pay: $171,388
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 290:1
JC Olivera // Getty Images
#21. Ted Sarandos (Netflix Inc.)
Ted Sarandos, Co-CEO at Netflix attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Netflix’s “Beef” in 2023 in Hollywood, California.
– CEO pay: $49,834,936
– Median worker pay: $200,947
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 248:1
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JP Yim // Getty Images for The Asian American Foundation
#20. Joseph Bae (Kkr & Co. Inc.)
Joseph Bae speaks onstage during the TAAF Heritage Month Awards Dinner.
– CEO pay: $49,959,449
– Median worker pay: $208,164
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 240:1
Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images // LightRocket via Getty Images
#19. James Belardi (Athene Holding Ltd.)
The Athene Holding logo on a smartphone and a PC screen.
– CEO pay: $50,782,768
– Median worker pay: $96,179
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 528:1
Kimberly White // Getty Images for Pars Equality Center
#18. Hamid Moghadam (Prologis, Inc.)
Hamid Moghadam attends the Pars Equality Center’s 5th Annual Nowruz Gala in 2015.
– CEO pay: $50,891,597
– Median worker pay: $127,229
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 400:1
CryptoFX // Shutterstock
#17. Gary Steele (Splunk Inc.)
The Cisco and Splunk Logos in 3D.
– CEO pay: $51,212,720
– Median worker pay: $238,199
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 215:1
T. Schneider // Shutterstock
#16. Githesh Ramamurthy (CCC Intelligent Solutions Holdings Inc.)
Person holding cellphone with website and logo of software company CCC Intelligent Solutions Holdings on screen.
– CEO pay: $54,549,486
– Median worker pay: $158,574
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 344:1
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Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images // LightRocket via Getty Images
#15. Jay Chaudhry (Zscaler, Inc.)
The Zscaler logo on a smartphone screen.
– CEO pay: $57,775,483
– Median worker pay: $181,114
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 319:1
Justin Sullivan // Getty Images
#14. Tim Cook (Apple Inc.)
Tim Cook delivers remarks at the start of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.
– CEO pay: $63,209,845
– Median worker pay: $94,062
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 672:1
Michael Vi // Shutterstock
#13. William Lansing (Fair Isaac Corp.)
FICO sign on headquarters of Fair Isaac Corporation in Silicon Valley.
– CEO pay: $66,349,962
– Median worker pay: $101,608
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 653:1
Paul Morigi // Getty Images for Haddad Media
#12. David Risher (Lyft, Inc.)
David Risher attends the 31st Annual White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch at Beall-Washington House in April 2024.
– CEO pay: $78,238,027
– Median worker pay: $150,748
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 519:1
Poetra.RH // Shutterstock
#11. Adam Foroughi (Applovin Corp.)
AppLovin Corporation logo in Palo Alto, California.
– CEO pay: $83,361,678
– Median worker pay: $104,857
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 795:1
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#10. Ariel Emanuel (Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc.)
Ariel Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor, poses for a portrait in 2021 in Century City, California.
– CEO pay: $83,879,505
– Median worker pay: $70,844
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 1184:1
Craig Barritt // Getty Images for ICP
#9. Pablo Legorreta (Royalty Pharma PLC)
Pablo Legorreta attends the International Center Of Photography’s 2018 Infinity Awards in New York City.
– CEO pay: $84,837,077
– Median worker pay: $353,488
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 240:1
John Hanson Pye // Shuttestock
#8. Christopher Winfrey (Charter Communications, Inc.)
Corporate Headquarters of Spectrum Cable parent company Charter Communications offices and logo in Connecticut at sunset.
– CEO pay: $89,077,078
– Median worker pay: $54,481
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 1635:1
Roy Rochlin // Getty Images
#7. Stephen Schwarzman (Blackstone Inc.)
Stephen Schwarzman as he visits “Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street” at Fox Business Network Studios.
– CEO pay: $119,784,375
– Median worker pay: $244,958
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 489:1
Marcus Ingram // Getty Images for Wheels Up
#6. George Mattson (Wheels Up Experience Inc.)
George Mattson attends the Wheels Up Hosts Annual Rao’s Pop-up in Las Vegas Ahead of Super Bowl LVIII in 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
– CEO pay: $148,978,853
– Median worker pay: $61,920
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 2406:1
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Jamie McCarthy // Getty Images for DKMS Gala
#5. Sue Nabi (Coty Inc.)
Sue Nabi speaks onstage during the 17th Annual DKMS Gala at Cipriani Wall Street in 2023 in New York City.
– CEO pay: $149,429,486
– Median worker pay: $39,647
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 3769:1
David Cannon // Getty Images
#4. Nikesh Arora (Palo Alto Networks Inc.)
Nikesh Arora at The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
– CEO pay: $151,425,203
– Median worker pay: $206,021
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 735:1
Ying Tang/NurPhoto // Getty Images
#3. Hock Tan (Broadcom Inc.)
Hock Tan speaking onstage.
– CEO pay: $161,826,161
– Median worker pay: $317,306
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 510:1
Steven Ferdman // Getty Images
#2. Harvey Schwartz (Carlyle Group Inc.)
Harvey Schwartz speaks at the 2024 Forbes Iconoclast Summit at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.
– CEO pay: $186,994,098
– Median worker pay: $230,005
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 813:1
T. Schneider // Shutterstock
#1. Jon Winkelried (TPG Inc.)
Person holding cellphone with logo of investment company TPG on screen in front of business webpage.
– CEO pay: $198,685,926
– Median worker pay: $290,902
– CEO to worker pay ratio: 683:1
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