The heads of America’s largest companies received record pay in 2023 with growing compensation for improved company performance.
In a Wall Street Journal analysis, half of the executives earned at least $15.7 million, setting a record for median Chief Executive Officer (CEO) pay in the annual survey. On top of that, several executives made over $50 million.
In the previous year, the median pay for the same companies was about $1.2 million lower at $14.5 million.
Among the 25 top earners were five executives, each heading financial companies and media or entertainment companies, and eight tech executives. Chip and computer hardware makers accounted for six of the 25 best-performing companies, along with four in the travel or transportation industries.Â
According to the Journal, Hock Tan, the CEO of Broadcom, is the highest-paid CEO at $162 million, but he’ll only receive the full amount if his company’s stock hits a certain level by 2025.
Broadcom stated that Tan’s pay also depended on him staying in his position for the next five years and that he would not receive any additional equity or cash bonuses until that period had passed.
Two other CEOs made nine-figure salaries in 2023: Palo Alto Networks’ Nikesh Arora, who made $151 million, mostly in the form of share grants covering the next three years, and Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman, who earned $120 million.
Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger’s salary wasn’t quite near Arora or Schwarzman, but he saw equity awards last year that were more than triple in value by year-end, to $39.3 million. Along with Gelsinger, the CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Brian Niccol, saw his take-home skyrocket in value. Niccol received stock and options valued at $15.5 million when they were granted in February 2023, and by the end of the year, the equity had more than tripled in value to $52.2 million, according to the company.Â
Pay for CEOs at the best- and worst-performing companies didn’t vary significantly, however. The median total pay was $14.6 million for the 20% of CEOs whose companies had the worst returns compared to similar companies, while it was $15.7 million for CEOs at the best-performing companies.
