Investing
These 19 Executives Pay Themselves Over $150 Million a Year
Published:
Last Updated:
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
[in-text-ad]
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
24/7 Wall St.
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
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
[in-text-ad-2]
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
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
[in-text-ad]
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
24/7 Wall St.
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
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
[in-text-ad-2]
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
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
[in-text-ad]
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
24/7 Wall St.
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
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
[in-text-ad-2]
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
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
[in-text-ad]
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
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
Find a Qualified Financial Advisor (Sponsor)
Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to 3 fiduciary financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests. If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
