US CEOs' earnings hit record highs

US CEOs' earnings hit record highs in 2024, with the industry average at $16.8 million, according to a visualcapitalist.com analysis. The increase is largely driven by performance-based stock awards, reflecting a broader trend to link CEO pay to shareholder returns.

Analyzing data from Chartr, the cited source compiled a ranking of the highest-paid CEOs in America in fiscal year 2024. Only companies with annual revenues of more than $1 billion were considered.

At the top of the list of the highest-paid CEOs in America is James Anderson, CEO of Coherent Corp., an American semiconductor manufacturer with over 26,000 employees. Appointed in June 2024, James Anderson has an income of $ 101 million. An estimated 99% of his total compensation consists of company stock, the value of which has risen sharply since the announcement of his appointment, according to the cited source. Anderson was previously CEO of Lattice Semiconductor.

In second place is Brian Niccol, who took over as CEO and president of coffee chain Starbucks Corp. in September 2024 after leading Chipotle. Niccol's appointment was aimed at revitalizing Starbucks in the context of declining sales and increasing competition. In the four months since his appointment, he has been paid about $ 96 million, mainly in stock awards.

In third place, with $ 87 million, is H. Lawrence "Larry" Culp Jr., the first outsider to lead General Electric Co. in the 126-year history of the industrial group. He was named CEO in 2018, and his compensation is tied to stock performance. General Electric shares are up 533% over the past five years (ending June 3, 2025).

Fourth-place holder Satya Nadella ($79 million) has been CEO of Microsoft Corp. for more than a decade, and is credited with transforming the company into a $3 trillion cloud computing powerhouse. Under Nadella's leadership, Microsoft has also made several major acquisitions, including LinkedIn ($26.2 billion in 2016), GitHub ($7.5 billion in 2018), and Activision Blizzard ($75.4 billion in 2023).

In fifth place is Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc. since 2011, with $75 million. According to Nasdaq, Cook's compensation in 2024 increased by 18% from the previous year. His 2024 package included a base salary of $3 million, plus $58 million in stock awards, $12 million in non-stock incentive compensation, and $1.5 million in other compensation.

Up to 10th place, the ranking looks like this: David Gitlin, CEO of Carrier Global Corp. ($66 million), Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks Inc. ($58 million), Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe Inc. ($52 million), Rajiv Ramaswami, CEO of Nutanix Inc. ($51 million), George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. ($47 million).