Annual pay packages for the CEOs of major corporations in America can reach over a billion dollars per year.
This graphic lists the best-paid CEOs in the U.S. in 2023, according to research from C-Suite Comp.
Methodology
This data covers leaders’ compensation at nearly 4,000 publicly traded U.S. companies. The dataset includes executives’ salaries, bonuses, perks, and stock options, among other factors. It also considers recent changes in the value of current and potential stock holdings.
Elon Musk at the Top
Tesla CEO Elon Musk was the best-paid CEO in the U.S. last year, earning about $1.4 billion. With a net worth of $205.4 billion in 2024, he also secured his position in our ranking of the wealthiest billionaires in the world in 2024.
| CEO | Company | Industry | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elon Musk | Tesla | Automotive & Energy | $1.4B |
| Alexander Karp | Palantir Technologies | Software & Data Analytics | $1.1B |
| Hock Tan | Broadcom | Semiconductors | $768M |
| Brian Armstrong | Coinbase Global | Cryptocurrency Exchange | $681M |
| Safra Catz | Oracle | Software & Cloud Computing | $304M |
| Brian Chesky | Airbnb | Online Marketplace | $304M |
| Jon Winkelried | TPG | Private Equity | $295M |
| Jeff Green | Trade Desk | Digital Advertising | $292M |
| Adam Foroughi | AppLovin | Mobile Technology | $271M |
| Nikesh Arora | Palo Alto Networks | Cybersecurity | $266M |
Second comes Palantir Technologies’ chief executive officer, Alexander Karp. The company offers intelligence and defense tools used by the U.S. Armed Forces and data integration and analysis to corporate clients such as Morgan Stanley and Airbus.
Third on our list, Hock Tan is the CEO of Broadcom Inc., a leading global technology company that designs, develops, and supplies a broad range of semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions.
Safra Catz is the only woman on our list. The Israeli-American business executive is the CEO of Oracle Corporation. Catz joined Oracle in 1999 and has been a driving force behind the company’s growth, particularly through a series of significant acquisitions.
Source: Visual Capitalist
