It takes a lot of effort and dedication to become a CEO and put your name in the top 10 of the world’s highest-paid CEOs.Today we will explore the ten most paid CEOs in the world in 2023.
10 Most Paid CEO
Here is the list of the ten highest-paid CEOs:
1. Elon Musk, Tesla: $23.5 billion
Elon Musk, the founder and chief executive officer of SpaceX and Tesla, received the largest CEO payout in 2021. He exercised some Tesla stock options awarded to him in a 2018 multiyear “moonshot” grant. That was—in absolute dollars—the most paid CEO in the world, the 2022 paid CEO payday ever recorded. But Musk’s total compensation package in 2021 was down about 2% because he gave up his role as chairman of the board of directors of Tesla.
In 2019, Tesla reported record profits and revenues and announced plans to build a factory in China. And then, in July, Tesla unveiled the Model Y, a compact SUV aimed at younger buyers. Investors were thrilled, sending shares soaring. By mid-September, they’d hit a 52-week high of $387.50 per share. By December, Tesla had lost nearly half its market cap. On April 23rd, Tesla reported losing another $3.4 billion in the year’s first quarter. And on May 22nd, the company issued a profit warning for the year’s second quarter.
2. Tim Cook, Apple: $770.5 million
Cook has been the most-paid CEO since 2011. Last year, he earned over $770.5 million, mainly due to a 10-year share grant worth $1.7B. His incredible pay package may be justifiable by Apple’s market cap growth under him: The tech company’s market cap grew by $2.2T during his tenure.
Apple ranked third on the Fortune 500 list. The company faced challenges due to the global chip shortage; however, it successfully began manufacturing the equipment. Apple ended the year with a gigantic net worth of $95B profit—surpassing every other US company. Apple declined to comment on the Fortune analysis.
3. Jensen Huang, NVIDIA, $561 million
Huang is the cofounder of NVIDIA, a company best known for its shield gaming consoles and advancements in artificial intelligence. The company ranked 133 on this year’s Fortune 1000. Revenue surged 62.1%. A spokesperson acknowledged the following: “During the last fiscal year, Mr. Huang realized about $507 million from expired options that had been granted back in 2011 and 2012, representing the approximately 60x increase of the company’s stock price over the past decade.”
4. Reed Hastings, Netflix: $453.5 million
Hastings is the cofounder, paid the highest CEO salary in the world CEO, and chairperson of the streaming giant. He started as a DVD mail delivery service before becoming an online streaming powerhouse. In 2019, Netflix ranked 115 on the Forbes list of America’s largest companies, with a 19.8 percent growth rate.
The company has recently lost subscribers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Netflix also faced increased competition from streaming services such as Disney+, Apple TV+, and HBO Max. A spokesperson told Fortune that Fortune’s analysis of Hastings’ realized pay needed to be more accurate. They said he received “$40.8 million in cash and $39 million in stock options” in 2020. He is in the 4th position on the most-paid CEO list.
5. Leonard Schleifer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals: $452.9 million
Schleifer is cofounder and highest-paid CEO salary and most paid CEO at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. This biopharmaceutical firm develops drugs to treat diseases such as asthma, cancer, and diabetes. In 2019, Regeneron was listed among Forbes’ top 10 places to work in biotech.
The company reported $3.9 billion in revenue in 2020, an increase of 89.1 percent compared to 2019. Regeneron’s revenue growth was driven by the company’s new coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, REGN3450, which received FDA approval in June 2020. According to a statement released by Regeneron, the bulk of Schleifers’ realized pay reflects the exercise of long-term options nearing their ten-year expiration date.
6. Marc Benioff, Salesforce: $439.4 million
Benioff founded Salesforce in 1999, adopting the marketing slogan “the end of software.” The cloud-based CRM platform ranked 136 on this year’s Fortune 500 list. Salesforce’s Mule soft, tableau, and Slack acquisitions have helped fuel growth in the last couple of years. Revenues rose 24.7% in 2020. Salesforce did not respond to comments.
7. Satya Nadella, Microsoft: $309.4 million
Nadella has been named one of the world’s most admired CEOs for six straight years, according to a new survey by Fortune magazine. He heads the list for the second year in a row. The survey ranks chief executives based on how much they’re admired by employees, customers, and investors.
Microsoft reported the highest-earning solid CEO growth last year, posting a profit of $61 billion. Revenue grew 17.5 percent to $168 billion. The company’s stock price has risen nearly 50 percent since Nadella took over as the most paid CEO in 2014. Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comments.
8. Robert A. Kotick, Activision Blizzard: $296.7 million
Kotick became CEO in 1991. The gaming company, best known for games such as Call of Duty and World Of Warcraft, ranked 396 on the Fortune 500 list. Activision Blizzard’s most paid CEO, Bob Kotick, made $296.7 million in 2017, according to our calculations.
Despite rampant employee complaints about sexism, harassment, and management mismanaging sexual assault claims at the game maker, Microsoft in January agreed in a deal worth $68.7 billion to acquire Activision. In an email statement, a spokesperson said that Kotick’s granted compensation was worth $826,549 in 2021.
9. Hock E. Tan, Broadcom: $288 million
Tan was born in Malaysia and attended MIT on a scholarship before entering the business world. He became the most paid CEO of Broadcom after Avago acquired the semiconductor company in 2016. Broadcom, which designs hardware and software products, ranked number 128 on this year’s Forbes list of America’s largest companies. Its revenue grew 14.9 percent in 2020. Broadcom did not respond to the comment.
10. Safra A. Catz, Oracle: $239.5 million
Catz was a bank teller before joining Oracle as a senior vice president in 1999. She became most paid CEO in 2019 after Mark Hurd resigned due to health reasons. Oracle, which is best known for database software, has had lackluster revenue growth in recent years. The company slipped down 11 spots to 91 in the Fortune 500. In 2020, Oracle announced a $30 billion deal to buy electronic health records company, Cerne. That deal is still pending approval by regulators in the US and Europe.
