Special Report
The Highest Paid CEOs at America’s 100 Largest Companies
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Already making hundreds of times what most Americans earn in a year, CEOs at top U.S. corporations received a pay raise in 2016. The average executive officer at one of the nation’s 100 largest public companies brought in $16.6 million last year compared to $15.5 million in 2015.
24/7 Wall St. reviewed total compensation packages for CEOs at the 100 largest public U.S. companies by revenue from executive-level data collector Equilar. Charter Communications CEO Thomas Rutledge tops the list, with total annual compensation of $98.0 million. This includes $78 million in stock option grants.
Meanwhile Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett remains the lowest paid of the group, with annual compensation of $487,881. Buffett is the only CEO listed with annual compensation under $3 million.
Click here to see the what CEOs are paid at the nation’s 100 largest public companies.
CEOs at large U.S. corporations make decisions that can make or lose a company millions of dollars. Even when changes in a company’s fortunes are not attributed to decisions of the CEO, the CEO is often still held responsible. These high stakes are often used to justify the massive pay packages. And CEOs are watched very closely by shareholders.
Executive compensation does not always track with performance, however. The share price of more than a quarter of the 100 companies on this list declined in 2016. Some of the top performing companies — such as truck manufacturer Paccar whose shares climbed 34.8% in 2016 and electronics design firm Arrow Electronics whose shares jumped 31.6% in 2016 — pay their CEOs relatively little compared with other large U.S. public companies.
Similarly, CEOs at companies with the largest revenues do not necessarily have the largest pay packages. Most notably, the lowest paid CEO, Warren Buffett, is CEO of the largest company on this list. With annual revenue of $223.6 billion, Berkshire Hathaway overtook Apple as the largest company.
To identify the highest and lowest paid CEOs at America’s largest companies, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed total compensation packages for CEOs at the 100 largest public U.S. companies by revenue that filed proxy statements covering 2016 before April 1 from executive-level data collector Equilar. Because Oracle has two CEOs, there are 101 executives listed.
Total compensation is defined as salary, bonus, stock and options valued at grant date, and other compensation as disclosed in the summary compensation table of company proxy statements. This figure excludes pension and deferred compensation values. Annual revenue figures are for fiscal 2016 or the latest available fiscal year and come from financial reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Share price changes in 2016 (December 31, 2015 – December 30, 2016) were obtained from Google finance.
These are the highest and lowest paid CEOs at America’s top 100 companies.
1. Warren E. Buffett
> Company: Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA)
> Total compensation: $487,881
> Revenue: $223.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +23.4%
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2. Edward S. Lampert
> Company: Sears Holdings (SHLD)
> Total compensation: $3.5 million
> Revenue: $22.1 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -54.8%
3. Pietro Satriano
> Company: US Foods Holding (USFD)
> Total compensation: $4.8 million
> Revenue: $22.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +10.3%
4. Bernardo Hees
> Company: Kraft Heinz (KHC)
> Total compensation: $5.3 million
> Revenue: $26.5 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +20.0%
5. Ronald E. Armstrong
> Company: Paccar (PCAR)
> Total compensation: $5.3 million
> Revenue: $17.0 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +34.8%
6. W. Craig Jelinek
> Company: Costco Wholesale (COST)
> Total compensation: $6.4 million
> Revenue: $118.7 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -0.9%
7. Roger Penske
> Company: Penske Automotive Group (PAG)
> Total compensation: $6.5 million
> Revenue: $20.1 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +22.4%
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8. Susan P. Griffith
> Company: Progressive (PGR)
> Total compensation: $6.9 million
> Revenue: $23.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +11.6%
9. Richard P. Hamada
> Company: Avnet (AVT)
> Total compensation: $6.9 million
> Revenue: $26.2 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +11.1%
10. Kevin Mansell
> Company: Kohls (KSS)
> Total compensation: $8.4 million
> Revenue: $18.7 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +3.7%
11. Michael J. Long
> Company: Arrow Electronics (ARW)
> Total compensation: $8.4 million
> Revenue: $23.8 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +31.6%
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12. David T. Seaton
> Company: Fluor (FLR)
> Total compensation: $8.7 million
> Revenue: $19.0 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +11.2%
13. Tim Cook
> Company: Apple (AAPL)
> Total compensation: $8.7 million
> Revenue: $215.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +10.0%
14. Kendall J. Powell
> Company: General Mills (GIS)
> Total compensation: $8.9 million
> Revenue: $16.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +7.1%
15. Dr. J. Mario Molina
> Company: Molina Healthcare (MOH)
> Total compensation: $9.9 million
> Revenue: $17.8 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -9.8%
16. Lance M. Fritz
> Company: Union Pacific (UNP)
> Total compensation: $10.0 million
> Revenue: $19.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +32.6%
17. Steven H. Collis
> Company: AmerisourceBergen (ABC)
> Total compensation: $10.0 million
> Revenue: $146.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -24.6%
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18. Stefano Pessina
> Company: Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA)
> Total compensation: $10.1 million
> Revenue: $117.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -2.8%
19. Trevor Fetter
> Company: Tenet Healthcare (THC)
> Total compensation: $10.1 million
> Revenue: $19.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -51.0%
20. Norman T. Linebarger
> Company: Cummins (CMI)
> Total compensation: $10.2 million
> Revenue: $17.5 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +55.3%
21. Donnie Smith
> Company: Tyson Foods (TSN)
> Total compensation: $10.2 million
> Revenue: $36.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +15.7%
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22. Kevin P. Clark
> Company: Delphi Automotive (DLPH)
> Total compensation: $10.4 million
> Revenue: $16.7 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -21.4%
23. Mark T. Mondello
> Company: Jabil Circuit (JBL)
> Total compensation: $10.5 million
> Revenue: $18.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +1.6%
24. Jonas Prising
> Company: ManpowerGroup (MAN)
> Total compensation: $11.0 million
> Revenue: $19.7 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +5.4%
25. Steve Mollenkopf
> Company: Qualcomm (QCOM)
> Total compensation: $11.1 million
> Revenue: $23.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +30.4%
26. Mike Jackson
> Company: AutoNation (AN)
> Total compensation: $11.1 million
> Revenue: $21.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -18.5%
27. Alan D. Schnitzer
> Company: Travelers Companies (TRV)
> Total compensation: $11.3 million
> Revenue: $27.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +8.5%
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28. Craig Arnold
> Company: Eaton (ETN)
> Total compensation: $11.7 million
> Revenue: $19.7 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +28.9%
29. David P. Abney
> Company: United Parcel Service (UPS)
> Total compensation: $11.7 million
> Revenue: $60.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +19.1%
30. R. Milton Johnson
> Company: HCA Holdings (HCA)
> Total compensation: $11.8 million
> Revenue: $41.5 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +9.4%
31. Terry J. Lundgren
> Company: Macy’s (M)
> Total compensation: $12.1 million
> Revenue: $25.8 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +2.4%
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32. Bruce D. Broussard
> Company: Humana (HUM)
> Total compensation: $12.2 million
> Revenue: $54.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +14.3%
33. Timothy J. Sloan
> Company: Wells Fargo (WFC)
> Total compensation: $12.8 million
> Revenue: $84.5 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +1.4%
34. Thomas P. Joyce
> Company: Danaher (DHR)
> Total compensation: $13.0 million
> Revenue: $16.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -16.2%
35. William J. Delaney
> Company: Sysco (SYY)
> Total compensation: $13.0 million
> Revenue: $50.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +35.0%
36. Richard K. Davis
> Company: U.S. Bancorp (USB)
> Total compensation: $13.0 million
> Revenue: $19.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +20.4%
37. Michael L. Corbat
> Company: Citigroup (C)
> Total compensation: $13.4 million
> Revenue: $63.1 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +14.8%
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38. Christopher M. Crane
> Company: Exelon (EXC)
> Total compensation: $13.4 million
> Revenue: $31.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +27.8%
39. Gregory J. Hayes
> Company: United Technologies (UTX)
> Total compensation: $13.4 million
> Revenue: $57.2 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +14.1%
40. Lynn J. Good
> Company: Duke Energy (DUK)
> Total compensation: $13.5 million
> Revenue: $22.7 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +8.7%
41. Gregory J. Goff
> Company: Tesoro (TSO)
> Total compensation: $13.5 million
> Revenue: $24.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -17.0%
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42. George S. Barrett
> Company: Cardinal Health (CAH)
> Total compensation: $13.7 million
> Revenue: $121.5 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -19.4%
43. Thomas J. Falk
> Company: Kimberly-Clark (KMB)
> Total compensation: $13.8 million
> Revenue: $18.2 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -10.4%
44. Jeff M. Fettig
> Company: Whirlpool (WHR)
> Total compensation: $13.9 million
> Revenue: $20.7 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +23.8%
45. John F. Milligan
> Company: Gilead Sciences (GILD)
> Total compensation: $13.9 million
> Revenue: $30.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -29.2%
46. Juan R. Luciano
> Company: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
> Total compensation: $14.0 million
> Revenue: $62.3 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +24.5%
47. Dennis A. Muilenburg
> Company: Boeing (BA)
> Total compensation: $14.1 million
> Revenue: $94.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +7.7%
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48. David S. Taylor
> Company: Procter & Gamble (PG)
> Total compensation: $14.4 million
> Revenue: $65.3 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +5.9%
49. Matthew J. Simoncini
> Company: Lear (LEA)
> Total compensation: $14.4 million
> Revenue: $18.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +7.8%
50. Timothy Wentworth
> Company: Express Scripts Holding (ESRX)
> Total compensation: $14.5 million
> Revenue: $100.3 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -21.3%
51. Michael S. Burke
> Company: AECOM (ACM)
> Total compensation: $15.1 million
> Revenue: $17.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +21.1%
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52. Joseph W. Gorder
> Company: Valero Energy (VLO)
> Total compensation: $15.1 million
> Revenue: $75.7 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -3.4%
53. David M. Cordani
> Company: Cigna (CI)
> Total compensation: $15.2 million
> Revenue: $39.7 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -8.8%
54. John C. Lechleiter
> Company: Eli Lilly (LLY)
> Total compensation: $15.2 million
> Revenue: $21.2 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -12.7%
55. Inge G. Thulin
> Company: 3M (MMM)
> Total compensation: $15.4 million
> Revenue: $30.1 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +18.5%
56. Brian T. Moynihan
> Company: Bank Of America (BAC)
> Total compensation: $15.4 million
> Revenue: $80.1 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +31.3%
57. Gary R. Heminger
> Company: Marathon Petroleum (MPC)
> Total compensation: $15.5 million
> Revenue: $63.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -2.9%
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58. Samuel R. Allen
> Company: Deere (DE)
> Total compensation: $15.6 million
> Revenue: $26.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +35.1%
59. Irene B. Rosenfeld
> Company: Mondelez International (MDLZ)
> Total compensation: $15.8 million
> Revenue: $25.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -1.1%
60. Muhtar Kent
> Company: Coca-Cola (KO)
> Total compensation: $16.0 million
> Revenue: $41.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -3.5%
61. Charles H. Robbins
> Company: Cisco Systems (CSCO)
> Total compensation: $16.0 million
> Revenue: $49.2 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +11.3%
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62. Andre Calantzopoulos
> Company: Philip Morris International (PM)
> Total compensation: $16.3 million
> Revenue: $75.0 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +4.1%
63. Miles D. White
> Company: Abbott Laboratories (ABT)
> Total compensation: $16.4 million
> Revenue: $20.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -14.5%
64. Joseph R. Swedish
> Company: Anthem (ANTM)
> Total compensation: $16.5 million
> Revenue: $84.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +3.1%
65. Frederick W. Smith
> Company: FedEx (FDX)
> Total compensation: $16.8 million
> Revenue: $50.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +25.0%
66. Wesley G. Bush
> Company: Northrop Grumman (NOC)
> Total compensation: $16.8 million
> Revenue: $24.5 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +23.2%
67. Paal Kibsgaard
> Company: Schlumberger (SLB)
> Total compensation: $16.8 million
> Revenue: $27.8 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +20.4%
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68. Richard D. Fairbank
> Company: Capital One Financial (COF)
> Total compensation: $16.9 million
> Revenue: $19.0 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +20.9%
69. Giovanni Caforio
> Company: Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY)
> Total compensation: $16.9 million
> Revenue: $19.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -15.0%
70. Kenneth I. Chenault
> Company: American Express (AXP)
> Total compensation: $16.9 million
> Revenue: $29.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +6.5%
71. Ian C. Read
> Company: Pfizer (PFE)
> Total compensation: $17.0 million
> Revenue: $52.8 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +0.6%
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72. Greg C. Garland
> Company: Phillips 66 (PSX)
> Total compensation: $17.2 million
> Revenue: $85.8 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +5.6%
73. Lowell C. McAdam
> Company: Verizon Communications (VZ)
> Total compensation: $17.4 million
> Revenue: $126.0 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +15.5%
74. John R. Strangfeld
> Company: Prudential Financial (PRU)
> Total compensation: $17.6 million
> Revenue: $58.8 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +27.8%
75. David M. Cote
> Company: Honeywell International (HON)
> Total compensation: $17.6 million
> Revenue: $39.3 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +11.9%
76. Satya Nadella
> Company: Microsoft (MSFT)
> Total compensation: $17.7 million
> Revenue: $85.3 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +12.0%
77. Richard A. Gonzalez
> Company: AbbVie (ABBV)
> Total compensation: $17.7 million
> Revenue: $25.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +5.7%
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78. Jeffrey R. Immelt
> Company: General Electric (GE)
> Total compensation: $17.7 million
> Revenue: $123.7 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +1.4%
79. Larry J. Merlo
> Company: CVS Health (CVS)
> Total compensation: $18.4 million
> Revenue: $177.5 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -19.3%
80. Pierre Nanterme
> Company: Accenture (ACN)
> Total compensation: $18.5 million
> Revenue: $34.8 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +12.1%
81. Mark Fields
> Company: Ford Motor (F)
> Total compensation: $19.3 million
> Revenue: $151.8 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -13.9%
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82. Andrew Liveris
> Company: Dow Chemical (DOW)
> Total compensation: $19.4 million
> Revenue: $48.2 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +11.1%
83. Marillyn A. Hewson
> Company: Lockheed Martin (LMT)
> Total compensation: $19.4 million
> Revenue: $47.2 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +15.1%
84. Lloyd C. Blankfein
> Company: Goldman Sachs Group (GS)
> Total compensation: $20.2 million
> Revenue: $30.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +32.9%
85. Daniel P. Amos
> Company: Aflac (AFL)
> Total compensation: $20.4 million
> Revenue: $22.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +16.2%
86. James R. Murdoch
> Company: Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA)
> Total compensation: $20.8 million
> Revenue: $27.3 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +3.2%
87. Phebe N. Novakovic
> Company: General Dynamics (GD)
> Total compensation: $21.2 million
> Revenue: $31.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +25.7%
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88. Alex Gorsky
> Company: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
> Total compensation: $21.2 million
> Revenue: $71.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +12.2%
89. Howard Schultz
> Company: Starbucks (SBUX)
> Total compensation: $21.8 million
> Revenue: $21.3 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -7.5%
90. Michael F. Neidorff
> Company: Centene (CNC)
> Total compensation: $22.0 million
> Revenue: $40.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -14.1%
91. Randall L. Stephenson
> Company: AT&T (T)
> Total compensation: $25.0 million
> Revenue: $163.8 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +23.6%
92. Indra K. Nooyi
> Company: Pepsico (PEP)
> Total compensation: $25.2 million
> Revenue: $62.8 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +4.7%
93. Dion J. Weisler
> Company: HP (HPQ)
> Total compensation: $28.2 million
> Revenue: $48.2 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +25.3%
94. Virginia M. Rometty
> Company: International Business Machines (IBM)
> Total compensation: $32.3 million
> Revenue: $79.9 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +20.6%
95. Alex A. Molinaroli
> Company: Johnson Controls International (JCI)
> Total compensation: $32.6 million
> Revenue: $37.7 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +23.4%
96. Margaret C. Whitman
> Company: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
> Total compensation: $32.9 million
> Revenue: $50.1 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +52.2%
97. Safra A. Catz
> Company: Oracle (ORCL)
> Total compensation: $40.9 million
> Revenue: $37.0 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +5.3%
98. Robert A. Iger
> Company: Walt Disney (DIS)
> Total compensation: $41.0 million
> Revenue: $55.6 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -0.8%
99. Mark V. Hurd
> Company: Oracle (ORCL)
> Total compensation: $41.1 million
> Revenue: $37.0 billion
> 2016 share price chg. +5.3%
100. Mark G. Parker
> Company: Nike (NKE)
> Total compensation: $47.6 million
> Revenue: $32.4 billion
> 2016 share price chg. -18.7%
101. Thomas M. Rutledge
> Company: Charter Communications (CHTR)
> Total compensation: $98.0 million
> Revenue: $29.0 billion
> 2016 share price chg. N/A
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