Median total compensation up by 12.6% for CEOs – compared to 5.2% for employees
Broadcom Inc CEO Hock Tan emerged as the highest paid chief executive in 2023, with a total compensation of $161,826,161.
This is according to the latest Equilar study on the CEO compensation at S&P 500 companies, which reviewed the trends in compensation awards for CEOs who served in the role for at least two years as of fiscal year end 2023.
Tan landed on top of the 341 chief executives featured in the report and was the only CEO with nine-digit total compensation in 2023.
Coming in second is Fair Isaac Corporation CEO William Lansing, with a total compensation of $66,349,962, according to the report. Apple CEO Tim Cook placed third with a total compensation of $63,209,845.
Source: Equilar | Associated Press
The highest-paid female CEOs include Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. CEO Lisa Su ($30,348,281), General Motors Company CEO Mary Barra ($27,847,405), and Citigroup Inc. CEO Jane Fraser ($25,458,313)
By industry, the communication services reported the largest pay packages for their CEOs with a median total compensation of $24,399,968. Coming in second is the Consumer Defensive sector ($17,696,889), and then the Healthcare sector ($17,289,877).
CEO pay spike
Meanwhile, median total compensation for S&P 500 chief executives went up by 12.6% to $16.3 million in 2023, a "significant increase" from the 0.9% hike last year, according to the report.
Stock awards largely contributed to the overall rise in total compensation, with the median value of stock awards surging 10.7% to $9.4 million in 2023.
The nearly 13% pay compensation rise among chief executives outpaced the pay hike rate enjoyed by employees. According to the report, the median S&P 500 employee earned $81,467 in 2023, a 5.2% increase from 2022.
This raised the CEO Pay ratio to 196 in 2023, significantly higher than the 185 in 2022.
