List of Top 10 Highest-Paid CEOs of the World - 2022
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While it's unsurprising that Covid-19 remains a source of concern for CEOs, other concerns include supply chain disruptions, changing consumer behaviour, labour and employee shortages due to stress and poor mental health, and more To tackle the pandemic's difficulties, corporate leaders all throughout the World had to act quickly and decisively. Some tried their hardest to keep their businesses afloat, but due to a lack of personnel, resources, demand, or sheer luck, they were unable to manage the difficulties and went to the bottom, while others employed their talents and manpower to perfection and kept themselves and their businesses afloat. Some CEOs could not only overcome obstacles and remain steady in their positions but also advance to the top and flourish. Here are the Top 10 Highest-Paid CEOs in the World right now. These rankings are based on the statistics given by the Fortune 500.
Highest-Paid CEOs in the World
- Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla
- Tim Cook, CEO of Apple
- Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA
- Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix
- Leonard Schleifer, CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
- Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce
- Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
- Robert A. Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard
- Hock E. Tan, CEO of Broadcom
- Safra A. Catz, CEO of Oracle
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla
Earned Compensation: $23.5 Billion
Elon Musk is the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, the most valuable automaker in the World.
Despite not being paid by Tesla, Musk has been the highest-paid CEO in the US for three years. Instead, when the business achieves specific market capitalization and growth benchmarks, he is awarded stock options. With the help of these options, Musk can buy Tesla stock for a remarkable $70 per share, which at the beginning of January 2022 was trading for close to $1,200 per share. In the first quarter of 2022, Tesla generated $18.76 billion in revenue.
By exercising some Tesla stock options granted in 2018, Musk received income in 2022 totalling roughly $23.5 billion.
As of May 25, Elon Musk's net worth was estimated to be $193 billion. This indicates that Musk has lost 77.6 billion dollars in fortune from the beginning of the year. By net worth, Musk remains the richest person in the World. He also ranked #2 on the Forbes 400 list of 2022.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple
Earned Compensation: $770.5 Million
Cook became Apple's CEO in 2011 following the passing of Steve Jobs. He has consistently appeared on lists of the highest-paid CEOs for a number of years.
Apple's market value has climbed by $2.2 trillion under Cook, and in 2021, the business made $95 billion in profits. The company encountered difficulties due to the global chip scarcity but was successful in starting internal equipment manufacturing.
Apple outperformed every other American corporation on that front, finishing the year with an enormous $95 billion n earnings. In the first quarter of 2022, Apple generated $97.2 billion in revenue.
The estimated current net worth of Tim Cook is $2 billion. As part of a 10-year issuance of shares worth $1.7 billion, he received an astounding $770.5 million in 2021 alone. Most people would find Cook's $3 million salary acceptable, but it is nothing compared to his $10.7 million bonus and $250 million in stock awards.
In the Forbes list of billionaires of 2022, Cook ranked #1513.
Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA
Earned Compensation: $561 Million
NVIDIA Corp., founded in 1993, is a tech corporation best known for its graphics chips, artificial intelligence technology, and Shield gaming consoles. Jensen Huang is the company's co-founder, current CEO, Director, and President.
Due to the company's share price increasing by about 60 times over the previous ten years, he realized $561 million in 2022 from the expiration options given in 2011 and 2012. From NVIDIA in the fiscal year ended in 2022, Huang got a total compensation of $23.7 million, out of which $900k was his salary, $18 million was awarded as stock, $4 million was his bonus, and $81k came from other types of compensation.
Nvidia, which went public in 1999, is 3.6% owned by Huang. NVIDIA's revenue increased by 61% to a record $12.46 billion in 2021, and it was $7.10 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
With a $21.3 billion net worth, he came in at #34 on the Forbes 400 list of billionaires for 2022.
Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix
Earned Compensation: $453.5 Million
The notorious streaming powerhouse Netflix was established in 1997, and Reed Hastings is the company's co-founder, CEO, and chairman.
In 2007, under his direction, Netflix transformed from a DVD postal delivery service to a leading online streaming service.
In 2021, Netflix generated $24.9 billion in revenue, a 23.8% year-over-year rise, and $5.1 billion in operating profit, an 85% year-over-year increase.
However, as the World reopened after the pandemic, the corporation recently trimmed expenditures due to losing subscribers. Streaming services are another source of rising rivalry for Netflix.
Hastings' total remuneration for the 2021 fiscal year was $40 million. Of this amount, $442k came from other forms of income, $39 million came from stock options, and $650k came from salary.
Reed Hastings' net worth was $2.9 billion as of 2022. He also ranked #801 on the Forbes list of billionaires in 2022 and #188 on Forbes 400 (2021).
Vibhavari Madki
Leonard Schleifer, CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Earned Compensation: $452.9 Million
Leonard Schleifer, the current CEO of the company, founded the biotech company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in 1988, which deals in the research, creation, testing, manufacturing, and distribution of medications to treat cancer, asthma, and chronic pain.
Due to the company's REGEN-COV antibody medication for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, revenue increased 89.1% in 2021 to reach $16.07 billion.
The business generated $2.97 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2022.
Schleifer received a total payout of $6 million. Of this total, $672 thousand came from other forms of income, $4 million came from bonuses, and $1 million came from salaries. Schleifer's current net worth is $1.1 billion. He also ranked #2324 on the Forbes list of billionaires in 2022 and #339 on Forbes 400 (2020).
Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce
Earned Compensation: $439.4 Million
In 1999, Benioff established Salesforce, a company that creates cloud-based enterprise software for customer relationship management with the tagline "The End of Software." Sales force automation, community management, a salesforce platform, solutions tailored to particular industries, digital commerce, customer service and support, collaboration, and marketing automation are some of its solutions. Additionally, the company offers consulting, counselling, support, and training services.
In 2021, revenue increased by 24.7%, reaching a total of $21.25 billion. Revenue increased by 24% year over year to $7.41 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
His base pay of $1,440,000, cash bonuses of $2,816,640, and benefits of $1,291,541 make up his $39,907,534 in yearly income.
Additionally, he was listed #74 on the Forbes 400 in 2021 and #275 on the Forbes list of billionaires in 2022.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
Earned Compensation: $309.4 million
In 2014, billionaire Satya Nadella succeeded billionaire Steve Ballmer as CEO of Microsoft. Nadella formerly held the position of Microsoft EVP for the cloud and enterprise group. Nadella's peers probably think he merits a large salary. In place of the company's faltering mobile strategy, he has steered it toward alternative markets like cloud computing and augmented reality.
A chip shortage that affected Xbox game systems was another issue the corporation had to deal with. Microsoft reported $168 billion in total revenue in 2021, an increase of 17.5%, and $7.8 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
The total remuneration received by Satya Nadella was $49.8 million. A salary of $2.5 million was paid out of this amount, along with bonuses of $14.2 million, stock awards of $33 million, and other forms of compensation of $109 thousand.
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Robert A. Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard
Earned Compensation: $296.7 Million
In 1991, Kotick was appointed Activision's CEO. The gaming behemoth creates and publishes interactive entertainment, and its most well-known titles include Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.
Kotick made $296.7 million from the value of vested restricted shares last year. In spite of Kotick's personal handling of assault claims at the game producer and several lawsuits alleging harassment, and sexism, Microsoft decided to purchase Activision in January for $68.7 billion, making it the company's largest acquisition to date.
Kotick received total compensation of $826.5k, of which $108.5k came from different sources of compensation, and $718k was salary.
Hock E. Tan, CEO of Broadcom
Earned Compensation: $288 Million
Tan, raised in Malaysia, received a scholarship to attend MIT before starting his career. Since Avago purchased the semiconductor business in 2015 for $37 billion, he has served as CEO of Broadcom.
A leading provider of infrastructure software and semiconductors, Broadcom is a multinational technology business. It uses infrastructure software, semiconductor products, and IP licensing to operate.
In 2021, the company's revenue increased 14.9% to $27.4 billion.
Tan received total pay of $60 million, including a salary of $1.2 million, a bonus of $5.4 million, $54 million in stock, and $46,000 in other forms of compensation.
Safra A. Catz, CEO of Oracle
Earned Compensation: $239.5 Million
Safra A. Catz has travelled a long but rewarding path. Prior to joining Oracle as a Senior Vice President in 1999, she worked as a banker. She then joined Mark Hurd as Co-CEO of Oracle in 2014. Hurd retired in 2019, citing health concerns, and Catz took over as CEO.
Oracle has seen slow revenue growth in recent years despite offering products and services that address many facets of corporate information technology settings. It is best recognized for its database software. As of May 2022, the regulatory approval process for Oracle's $28 billion acquisition of Cerner, a provider of electronic health records, was still ongoing in the United States and Europe.
Catz received a total payout of $10 million. $950 thousand of this total was earned as a salary, $9 million as a bonus, and $96 thousand from other forms of compensation.
Catz has a net worth of $1.4 billion. Additionally, she was listed #19 on the Forbes list of America's Self-Made Women in 2022 and #1922 on the Forbes list of billionaires in 2022.
Conclusion
While these CEOs are on the top, others are climbing this stairwell, like Eric Yuan, Ann-Marie Campbell, Amrita Ahuja, Satya Nadella, Lisa Barton, and many more. Some of them are doing it at a very fast pace, while others are playing it steady. It won't be long before these names are among the highest-paid CEOs in the World.
FAQs
Who are the highest-paid CEOs in the world?
Top 10 Highest-Paid CEOs in the world are:
- Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla
- Tim Cook, CEO of Apple
- Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA
- Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix
- Leonard Schleifer, CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
- Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce
- Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
- Robert A. Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard
- Hock E. Tan, CEO of Broadcom
- Safra A. Catz, CEO of Oracle
Who is the highest-paid CEO in the world?
Elon Musk is the highest-paid CEO in the world with an annual compensation of $23.5 billion.
Who is the highest-paid female CEO?
Safra A. Catz, CEO of Oracle is the highest-paid female CEO. She got an annual compensation of $239.5 million in 2021.
What is the revenue of Tesla?
Tesla brought a revenue of $53.8 billion in 2021.
What is Elon Musk's salary at Tesla?
Elon Musk got annual compensation of $23.5 billion from Tesla in 2021.
Who is the richest CEO in the world?
Elon Musk is the richest CEO in the world with a net worth of $227 billion.
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