Top 10 Highest-Paid CEOs In The World (2022)

We will be discussing the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world, in this piece. Successful businesses don’t just appear out of nowhere. Successful businesses are created by people acting.

In the United States, for instance, the typical weekly wage for employees in the first quarter of 2022 was $1,037, or roughly $54,000 annually. The eight highest-paid CEOs) in the nation, however, make several times that amount every single day. Even more stunning is the fact that Elon Musk, the CEO at the top of the list, made about $54,000 for each hour of the 40-hour workweek in 2020.

To ensure the success of the business, people make decisions, implement policies, and manage the financial and human resources at their disposal. The Chief Executive Officers are those people (CEOs). In addition, the Chief Executive, President, and Managing Director are also utilized.

The majority of the top CEOs run the businesses they founded. To obtain this desired position, though, others had to go through the ranks. We’ll list the CEOs with the highest salaries worldwide in 2022.

READ ALSO: Top 10 Highest-Paid Actors In The World (2022)

Top 10 Highest-Paid CEOs In The World

The table below contains the names, net worth, ages, and nationalities of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world.

1. Elon Musk

$23.1 billion

Elon Musk is the highest-paid CEO in the world. He is the founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tela. Musk has been the highest-paid CEO in the US for the past three years while not receiving compensation from Tesla.

Instead, he receives stock options when the company meets certain market capitalization and growth targets. These options allow Musk to acquire Tesla stock, which at the beginning of January 2022 was going for about $1,200 per share, for an astounding $70 per share. Tesla made $18.76 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2022.

Tesla was placed 65 on the Fortune 500 this year. The business experienced a record-breaking 2021, earning $53.8 billion in revenue, an increase of 71 percent from 2020, and rapidly expanding into important Chinese and European markets. With 936,000 vehicles shipped in 2021, an 87 percent increase, Tesla is at the top of the worldwide EV market with a 14 percent market share. Elon Musk is first on our list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world.

2. Tim Cook

$770.5 Million

Tim Cook is a wonderful personality among the highest-paid CEOs. After Steve Jobs’ passing in 2011, Cook became Apple’s CEO. He has consistently appeared on lists of the highest-paid CEOs.

In 2020, Cook received around $265 million in total yearly salary. Although the majority of people would adore his $3 million CEO pay, it is dwarfed by his $10.7 million bonus and $250 million in stock awards.

Under Cook, Apple’s market value increased by $2.2 trillion, and the company earned $95 billion in profits in 2021. Despite facing challenges as a result of the global chip shortage, the company was successful in initiating internal equipment manufacturing.

Apple finished the year with a huge $95 billion in earnings, outperforming every other American firm on that front. The first quarter of 2022 saw $97.2 billion in revenue for Apple.

Tim Cook’s estimated current net worth is $2 billion. He received an amazing $770.5 million in 2021 alone as part of a $1.7 billion 10-year issuance of shares. Cook’s $3 million salaries would be considered reasonable by the majority of people, but it pales in comparison to his $10.7 million bonus and $250 million in stock awards. Tim Cook is the second on our list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world.

READ ALSO: Top 10 Richest People That Ever Lived

3. Jensen Huang

$561 Million

NVIDIA, a software business best known for its Shield gaming consoles and developments in artificial intelligence, was co-founded by Jensen Huang.

The business was ranked 134 on the Fortune 500 this year. Revenue increased by 61.4%.

According to a spokesman, Huang “he gained $561 million in 2022 from the expiration options granted in 2011 and 2012 because the company’s share price increased by roughly 60 times over the previous ten years.

Huang received a total pay from NVIDIA for the fiscal year that ended in 2022 of $23.7 million, of which $900,000 was his salary, $18, 000,000 was granted as stock, $4,000,000 was his bonus, and $81,000,000 came from various sources of compensation. Jensen Huang is the third on our list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world.

4. Reed Hastings

$453.5 Million

In 1997, Reed Hastings co-founded, served as CEO, and served as chairman of the infamous streaming behemoth Netflix. Under his leadership, Netflix had a major online streaming service conversion in 2007 from a DVD postal delivery service.

Netflix made $24.9 billion in revenue in 2021, up 23.8 percent from the previous year, and $5.1 billion in operating profit, up 85 percent. However, when the World recovered from the pandemic, the company recently cut spending because of declining subscription numbers. Streaming services are another area where Netflix is facing increasing competition.

Hastings received $40 million in total compensation for the 2021 fiscal year. Of this sum, $650k came from salary, $442k came from other sources of income, and $39 million came from stock options. Reed Hastings is fourth on our list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world.

5. Leonard Schleifer

$452.9 Million

The biotech company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which deals in the research, development, testing, manufacture, and marketing of drugs to treat cancer, asthma, and chronic pain, was founded in 1988 by Leonard Schleifer, the current CEO of the business.

The company’s sales surged 89.1% in 2021 to reach $16.07 billion as a result of its REGEN-COV antibody drug for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

In the first quarter of 2022, the company’s revenue reached $2.97 billion.

Six million dollars total were paid to Schleifer. $672 thousand of this total came from sources other than wages, $4 million from bonuses, and $1 million from salary. The current value of Schleifer’s assets is $1.1 billion. Leonard Schleifer is fifth on our list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world

6. Marc Benioff

$439.4 Million

Benioff founded Salesforce in 1999, a business with the slogan “The End of Software” that develops cloud-based enterprise software for customer relationship management. Some of its features include marketing automation, sales force automation, community management, a salesforce platform, solutions designed for specific sectors, digital commerce, customer care, support, and collaboration. The business also provides training, counseling, support, and consulting services.

Revenue rose by 24.7 percent to a total of $21.25 billion in 2021. In the first quarter of 2022, revenue climbed by 24% year over year to $7.41 billion.

His annual salary of $39,907,534 is made up of $1,440,000 in base pay, $2,816,640 in cash bonuses, and $1,291,541 in benefits. Marc Benioff is the sixth on our list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world.

7. Satya Nadella

$309.4 million

Billionaire Satya Nadella replaced billionaire Steve Ballmer as Microsoft’s CEO in 2014. Previously, Nadella served as Microsoft’s executive vice president for the cloud and enterprise group. Nadella’s colleagues undoubtedly believe he deserves a high wage. He has directed the business away from its failing mobile strategy and toward alternate sectors like cloud computing and augmented reality.

Another problem that the company had to handle was a chip shortage that damaged Xbox gaming consoles. Microsoft reported a 17.5 percent growth in total revenue to $168 billion in 2021 and $7.8 billion in the first quarter of 2022. Satya Nadella is seventh on our list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world.

READ ALSO: Top 10 Cheapest Cities to Visit in the U.S

8. Robert A. Kotick

$296.7 Million

Kotick became the CEO of Activision in 1991. Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are two of the gaming giant’s most well-known interactive entertainment creations.

From the value of vested restricted shares last year, Kotick earned $296.7 million. Microsoft chose to buy Activision in January for $68.7 billion, making it the company’s biggest acquisition to date, despite Kotick’s personal handling of assault claims at the game developer and many lawsuits alleging harassment and misogyny.

Kotick received $826.5k in total remuneration, of which $108.5k came from multiple sources and $718k was paid. Robert A. Kotick is eighth on our list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world.

9. Hock E. Tan

$288 Million

Tan, a Malaysian native, attended MIT on a scholarship before beginning his profession. He has been CEO of Broadcom since Avago paid $37 billion to buy the semiconductor company in 2015.

Technology multinational Broadcom is a top supplier of semiconductors and infrastructure software. To function, it makes use of infrastructure software, semiconductors, and IP licensing.
The business’s revenue rose 14.9 percent to $27.4 billion in 2021.

Tan received $60 million in total compensation, which was made up of a $1.2 million salary, a $5.4 million bonus, $54 million in stock, and $46,000 in other types of payment. Hock E. Tan is on our list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world.

10. Safra A. Catz

$239.5 Million

Another amazing person among the highest-paid CEOs in the world is Safra A. Catz. She has walked a difficult but fruitful route. She was a banker before transferring to Oracle in 1999 as a Senior Vice President. In 2014, she then collaborated with Mark Hurd as Oracle’s Co-CEO. Hurd retired in 2019 due to health issues, and Catz became CEO in his place.

Despite providing products and services that cover numerous aspects of corporate information technology settings, Oracle has seen poor revenue growth in recent years. It is mainly known for its database management system. The $28 billion acquisition of Cerner, a provider of electronic health records, by Oracle was still undergoing regulatory approval in the US and Europe as of May 2022. Safra A. Catz is the last person on our list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world.

Summary

Do you enjoy reading about the highest-paid CEOs in the world?

Here is a quick rundown of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world

1. Elon Musk
2. Tim Cook
3. Jensen Huang
4. Reed Hastings
5. Leonard Schleifer
6. Marc Benioff
7. Satya Nadella
8. Robert A. Kotick
9. Hock E. Tan
10. Safra A. Catz