The highest paid CEOs of 2023
Chiefs of America’s biggest firms reached new pay heights in 2023 as stock awards swelled the compensations
The chiefs of America’s biggest companies reached new pay heights in 2023 as stock awards swelled the value of compensation packages. Half of the executives in a Wall
analysis made at least $15.7 million, a record for median CEO pay in the annual survey, with several making more than $50 million. Median pay for the same companies a year earlier was about $14.5 million.
Most of the executives received year-over-year raises of at least 9%— one in four got 25% or more—and most companies recorded annual shareholder returns of at least 13%, the Journal found in an analysis of data on more than 400 companies from MyLogIQ, a provider of publiccompany data and analysis. (See the full ranking below.)
Eight tech executives ranked among the 25 top earners, as did five each heading financial companies and media or entertainment companies.
Hock Tan, the highest-paid CEO in the Journal’s analysis at $162 million, has to stay on the job for five years and Broadcom’s share price must reach certain targets after October 2025 to get the full value of most of his pay. Broadcom said the company has outperformed competitors under Tan, its CEO since 2006, and he won’t get more equity or cash bonuses for five years.
Pay for Nikesh Arora at Palo Alto Networks totaled $151 million, mostly in equity awards that included shares granted over three years.
Blackstone, where Steven
Schwarzman made $120 million, said the company’s 83% total return surpassed U.S. asset managers last year and described its pay structure as aligning executive incentives with those of investors.
Christopher Winfrey of Charter Communications, the cable operator, received total pay valued at $89.1 million, largely in options and stock vesting over five years, and much of it only if the company’s shares rise 28% to 152% from when the grants were made.
A $30 million one-time retention and leadership award that vests over five years helped boost total pay for Fair Isaac’s Will Lansing to $66 million. The company said its shareholder