According to the Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) proxy, in 2023, former CEO W. Craig Jelinek made 336 times more than the median pay of his workers. That median worker compensation was $50,202. His pay was $16,879,623. Costco has about 330,000 workers, which makes it among America’s largest companies based on that count. Costco has 871 locations worldwide.
Almost all of Jelinek’s pay was stock awards of $14,937,824. His base pay was a less spectacular $1,154,808. Jelinek got a raise in each of the two prior years. He made $9,905,070 in 2022 and $8,804,752 in 2021. Jelinek stepped down at the beginning of this year and was replaced as chief executive by Ron Vachris, the retailer’s former president and chief operating officer.
Costco had a mediocre year in 2023 financially. Revenue hit $237.7 billion, which was up from $222.7 billion in 2022. Net income rose from $5.8 billion in 2022 to $6.3 billion last year. (This is how much money Costco makes every minute.)
Costco’s stock did well in 2023. It opened the year at $483 and closed it at $656, an increase of 36%. Shares were last seen trading hands near $713. The consensus price target is above $780 and would be an all-time high.
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