The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) estimates that CEO compensation has grown 1,322% since 1978, while typical worker compensation has risen just 18%. In 2020, CEOs of the top 350 firms in the U.S. made $24.2 million on average, which was 351 times more than a typical worker.
Sometimes the coveted C-level title doesn’t always garner large annual sums: former Apple Inc (NASDAQ:APPL) CEO Steve Jobs famously slashed his pay to $1 shortly after rejoining Apple and kept it there for more than a decade. And in 2019, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk earned just $23,000 — enough to purchase half of one Tesla Model Y.
Who were the most handsomely compensated C-level executives in 2020, and what can you do with their salaries?
Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA): $6,658,803,818 - The New York Yankees (or A LOT of Dogecoin: CRYPTO: DOGE).
Mike Pykosz, CEO, Oak Street Health Inc (NYSE:OSH): $568,442,024 - Villa Les Cèdres, the fourth most expensive house in the world.
Trevor Bezdek, co-CEO, Goodrx Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:GDRX): $497,838,903 - 1,000 tickets for space travel with Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPCE).
Eric Wu, CEO, Opendoor Technologies (NASDAQ:OPEN): $388,713,679 - Four "pink star" diamonds, the most expensive in the world.
Alex Karp, CEO, Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR): $369,553,959 - Several islands in the Maldives.
Geoffrey Price, COO Oak Street Health Inc: $356,271,777 - 117,486 shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Tim Cook, CEO, Apple Inc: $265,043,550 - 221,053 iPhone 13 Pro Max 256GB
Griffin Myers, Chief Medical Officer, Oak Street Health Inc: $221,354,227 - Two Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) 737 MAX airplanes.
Chad Richison, CEO, Paycom Software Inc (NYSE:PAYC): $220,003,916 - A Chinese tea bowl dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
(Salary source: Bloomberg)
Originally published on March 13, 2022.
Photo: Courtesy Boeing
