CEO pay in 2023 saw a 12.6% increase, with Apple and Netflix company leaders taking home some of the biggest paychecks, according to a study by Equilar.
The study, conducted in partnership with the Associated Press, reviewed CEO pay at S&P 500 companies. It identified trends in CEO compensation awards for those who served in their role at an S&P 500 company for at least two years as of the end of fiscal year 2023. Companies had to file a proxy from Jan. 1 to April 30, 2024, to be included in this study.
Of note, $81,467 was the median S&P 500 employee earning for 2023, a 5.2% increase from 2022. The CEO pay ratio increased to 196 in 2023, up from 185 in 2022.
For the fifth year in a row, the communication services industry saw the highest-paid S&P 500 CEOs, with 13 CEOs seeing a median total compensation of $24,399,968. Eighteen CEOs working in the consumer defensive industry saw the second highest median total compensation at $17,696,889, with 46 healthcare CEOs seeing the third highest median compensation of $17,289,877.
Here are the 10 top-paid CEOs who made the list along with their total compensation for 2023:
Hock Tan
Broadcom
Total compensation: $161,826,161
William Lansing
Fair Isaac Corp.
Total compensation: $66,349,962
Timothy Cook
Apple
Total compensation: $63,209,845
Hamid R. Moghadam
Prologis
Total compensation: $50,891,597
Theodore Sarandos
Netflix
Total compensation: $49,834,936
David Zaslav
Warner Bros. Discovery
Total compensation: $49,702,546
Glenn Fogel
Booking Holdings
Total compensation: $46,720,734
Shantanu Narayen
Adobe
Total compensation: $44,932,578
Laurence Neil Hunn
Roper Technologies
$41,295,585
William McDermott
ServicesNow
Total compensation: $37,606,244