Hundreds of CEOs earn eight-figure salaries — at least $10 million — each year. And many pull in even higher salaries, several times that amount. Top-performing — and sometimes less than top-performing — CEOs are rewarded with lucrative contracts that generally include salary, bonuses, stock and options grants, and benefits. In a few cases, CEOs are set to earn more than $100 million in total compensation in 2018.
24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from Equilar Inc. on the total compensation of American CEOs to determine the highest paid CEOs in 2018.
Calls for corporate accountability have grown louder in recent years. Many feel that CEO pay has become excessive, especially when compared to many of their workers. Each of the 25 highest-paid CEOs among major publicly traded companies is paid at least 200 times the average salary of their employees. Mindy Grossman, CEO of Weight Watchers International, has the highest CEO-to-average-worker-pay ratio — earning 5,908 times more than the company’s average employee.
There has also been a recent push to hold powerful executives more accountable for their personal actions. Les Moonves stepped down as the head of CBS after six women accused him of sexual harassment. Steve Wynn also left Wynn Resorts after similar claims against him surfaced.
Methodology
To determine the 25 highest paid CEOs in 2018, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data compiled by Equilar, a provider of executive compensation tracking tools and data. Equilar ranked the top 200 chief executives by their total compensations, which generally include salary, bonuses, stock and options grants, and benefits. Each company’s annual revenue came from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Some CEOs are no longer with the companies for which they are listed. Leslie Moonves of CBS and Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts both lost their positions in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. Margaret Georgiadis left Mattel to head Ancestry.com. Other CEOs, like Jeffrey Bewkes, left their post after their companies — in Bewkes’ case Time Warner — were bought out or merged with another corporation.
Click here to see the highest paid CEOs of 2018.
Source: Ben Gabbe / Getty Images
25. Josh Sapan
> Company: AMC Networks (AMCX)
> Annual compensation: $29.6 million
> Company revenue: $2.8 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 449x
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Source: Courtesy of Expedia Group
24. Mark D. Okerstrom
> Company: Expedia Group (EXPE)
> Annual compensation: $30.7 million
> Company revenue: $10.1 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 431x
Source: Courtesy of Ancestry
23. Margaret Georgiadis
> Company: Mattel (MAT)
> Annual compensation: $31.3 million
> Company revenue: $4.9 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 4,987x
Source: Courtesy of Allergan
22. Brenton L. Saunders
> Company: Allergan (AGN)
> Annual compensation: $32.8 million
> Company revenue: $1.6 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 349x
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Source: Paul Morigi / Getty Images
21. Mindy Grossman
> Company: Weight Watchers International (WTW)
> Annual compensation: $33.4 million
> Company revenue: $1.3 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 5,908x
Source: Joe Corrigan / Getty Images
20. Steve Wynn
> Company: Wynn Resorts (WYNN)
> Annual compensation: $34.5 million
> Company revenue: $6.3 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 909x
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Source: Nicholas Hunt / Getty Images
19. Martine Rothblatt
> Company: United Therapeutics (UTHR)
> Annual compensation: $35.9 million
> Company revenue: $1.7 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 203x
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Source: Kimberly White / Getty Images
18. Robert A. Iger
> Company: Walt Disney (DIS)
> Annual compensation: $36.3 million
> Company revenue: $59.4 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: N/A
Source: Courtesy of IQVIA
17. Ari Bousbib
> Company: IQVIA Holdings (IQV)
> Annual compensation: $37.5 million
> Company revenue: $9.7 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 388x
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Source: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
16. Safra A. Catz
> Company: Oracle (ORCL)
> Annual compensation: $40.7 million
> Company revenue: $39.8 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: N/A
Source: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
15. Mark V. Hurd
> Company: Oracle (ORCL)
> Annual compensation: $40.8 million
> Company revenue: $39.8 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: N/A
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Source: Drew Angerer / Getty Images
14. John Donahoe
> Company: ServiceNow (NOW)
> Annual compensation: $41.5 million
> Company revenue: $1.9 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 250x
Source: Amanda Edwards / Getty Images
13. David M. Zaslav
> Company: Discovery Communications (DISCA)
> Annual compensation: $42.2 million
> Company revenue: $6.9 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 522x
Source: Courtesy of Mondelēz International
12. Dirk Van de Put
> Company: Mondelez International (MDLZ)
> Annual compensation: $42.4 million
> Company revenue: $25.9 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 403x
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Source: Starkjames / Wikimedia Commons
11. Brian Duperreault
> Company: American International Group (AIG)
> Annual compensation: $42.8 million
> Company revenue: $49.5 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 697x
Source: Eóin Noonan / Web Summit via Sportsfile / Wikimedia Commons
10. Stephen Kaufer
> Company: TripAdvisor (TRIP)
> Annual compensation: $43.2 million
> Company revenue: $1.6 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 481x
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Source: Courtesy of Fleetcor Technologies
9. Ron Clarke
> Company: FleetCor Technologies (FLT)
> Annual compensation: $45.1 million
> Company revenue: $2.2 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 1,517x
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Source: Drew Angerer / Getty Images
8. Jeff Bewkes
> Company: Time Warner (TWX)
> Annual compensation: $49.0 million
> Company revenue: N/A
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 651x
Source: Courtesy of Altice USA
7. Dexter Goei
> Company: Altice USA (ATUS)
> Annual compensation: $53.6 million
> Company revenue: $9.3 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: N/A
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Source: Courtesy of Transdigm Group
6. W. Nicholas Howley
> Company: TransDigm Group (TDG)
> Annual compensation: $61.0 million
> Company revenue: $3.8 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: N/A
Source: Drew Angerer / Getty Images
5. Gregory Maffei
> Company: Liberty Media & Qurate Retail Group (FWONA & QRTEA)
> Annual compensation: $67.2 million
> Company revenue: N/A
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: N/A
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Source: Neilson Barnard / Getty Images
4. Leslie Moonves
> Company: CBS (CBS)
> Annual compensation: $68.4 million
> Company revenue: $13.7 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 595x
Source: Kevin Winter / Getty Images
3. Michael Rapino
> Company: Live Nation Entertainment (LYV)
> Annual compensation: $70.6 million
> Company revenue: $10.3 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 2,893x
Source: Ben Gabbe / Getty Images for National Eating Disorders Association
2. Frank Bisignano
> Company: First Data (FDC)
> Annual compensation: $102.2 million
> Company revenue: $12.1 billion
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: 2,028x
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Source: Pool / Getty Images
1. Hock E. Tan
> Company: Broadcom (AVGO)
> Annual compensation: $103.2 million
> Company revenue: N/A
> CEO pay vs. median employee salary: N/A
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