A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute revealed that CEOs of the top 350 publicly traded companies earned in 2021 an average of $27.8 million in realized annual income, a figure which includes stock options. This staggering figure is nearly 400 times higher than the earnings of a typical worker, marking a significant increase from the 366-to-1 ratio observed in 2020 and a massive jump from the 59-to-1 ratio seen in 1989.
To identify the highest-paid CEOs, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) list of Highest-Paid CEOs in the Russell 3000 index. Only CEOs with annual compensation of more than $150 million are listed. Company description and 12-months trailing revenue came from Yahoo! Finance. (Also read: the youngest companies in the Fortune 500.)
Among these executives, compensation ranged from $155.7 million for Travis VanderZanden of Bird Global, an e-scooter and e-bike rental company, to an astonishing $835 million awarded to Jeff Green, the head of digital advertising giant The Trade Desk.
Notably, this list includes leaders of well-known corporations such as Amazon.com’s Andrew Jassy, whose 2021 earnings amounted to $212.7 million. To put this in perspective, Jassy’s income equated to approximately $102,260 per working hour for a 40-hour workweek. Similarly, David Zaslav, the chief of Warner Bros. Discovery, received an annual compensation of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars.
Interestingly, there seems to be no clear correlation between CEO salaries and company revenue, a crucial metric in the eyes of both shareholders and analysts.
Here are the highest paid American CEOs.
19. Travis VanderZanden, Bird Global, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $155.7 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $74,875
> Company revenue: $239.1 million
> Business: App-based e-scooter and e-bike rental company
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Source: Craig Barritt / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images
18. R.J. Pittman, Matterport, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $157.9 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $75,924
> Company revenue: $136.1 million
> Business: 3D camera and virtual reality platform provider
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Source: Courtesy of Core Scientific via Facebook
17. Michael Levitt, Core Scientific, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $160.7 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $77,258
> Company revenue: $276.4 million
> Business: Block chain and digital asset company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December
Source: Courtesy of SAP
16. William McDermott, ServiceNow, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $165.8 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $79,713
> Company revenue: $7,245.0 million
> Business: Enterprise cloud-computing services provider
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Source: Drew Angerer / Getty Images News via Getty Images
15. Barry McCarthy, Peloton Interactive, Inc.
> Compensation, 2022: $168.1 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $80,805
> Company revenue: $3,052.3 million
> Business: Interactive stationary bike and treadmill company
Source: Alex Wong / Getty Images News via Getty Images
14. Patrick Gelsinger, Intel Corporation
> Compensation, 2021: $178.6 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $85,861
> Company revenue: $63,054.0 million
> Business: One of the world’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturers
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Source: Courtesy of Volta Charging via Facebook
13. Scott Mercer, Volta, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $179.4 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $86,261
> Company revenue: N/A
> Business: A leading U.S. provider of public EV charging networks, acquired by Shell USA and delisted in March
Source: smolaw11 / iStock via Getty Images
12. G. Mikan, Bright Health Group, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $180.8 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $86,930
> Company revenue: $2,412.0 million
> Business: Health insurer and health care provider
Source: Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images News via Getty Images
11. Andrew Jassy, Amazon.com, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $212.7 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $102,260
> Company revenue: $513,983.0 million
> Business: World’s largest e-commerce platform and cloud-computing company
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10. David Steinberg, Zeta Global Holdings Corp.
> Compensation, 2021: $216.5 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $104,065
> Company revenue: $591.0 million
> Business: Data-driven marketing technology company
Source: Courtesy of Marqeta via Facebook
9. Jason Gardner, Marqeta, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $224.4 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $107,879
> Company revenue: $748.2 million
> Business: Card issuer and payment processing company
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8. David Baszucki, Roblox Corp.
> Compensation, 2021: $232.8 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $111,917
> Company revenue: $2,225.1 million
> Business: Online entertainment platform and video game developer
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Source: Amanda Edwards / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images
7. David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $246.6 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $118,545
> Company revenue: $33,817.0 million
> Business: Media and entertainment company. Merged with WarnerMedia in April 2022. Ticker was subsequently changed from DISCA to WBD
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
6. Peter Kern, Expedia Group, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $296.2 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $142,427
> Company revenue: $11,667.0 million
> Business: Online travel company operating under the brands Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Orbitz, Travelocity, and more
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
5. Jason Kelly, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $380.7 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $183,049
> Company revenue: $477.7 million
> Business: Biotech company centered around cell programming that enables production of therapeutics, food ingredients, and chemicals derived from petroleum
Source: Richard Truesdell / Wikimedia Commons
4. Robert Scaringe, Rivian Automotive, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $422.1 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $202,952
> Company revenue: $1,658.0 million
> Business: Electric-vehicle manufacturer associated with Amazon.com
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3. Peter Rawlinson, Lucid Group, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $565.6 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $271,919
> Company revenue: $608.2 million
> Business: Maker of electric vehicles, EV powertrains, and battery systems
2. Vladimir Tenev, Robinhood Markets, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $796.1 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $382,752
> Company revenue: $1,358.0 million
> Business: Financial services platform that allows users to invest in stocks, ETFs, options, gold, and cryptocurrencies
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
1. Jeff Green, The Trade Desk, Inc.
> Compensation, 2021: $835.0 million
> Pay per working hour (40 hrs a week): $401,423
> Company revenue: $1,577.8 million
> Business: Digital advertising platform provider
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