COMP NEWS – Companies are pushing pay packages higher for their CEOs, even as some of their companies falter under their leadership.
It’s not just Tesla (TSLA) and Elon Musk: Other companies are also pushing pay packages higher.
Tesla stockholders will have a chance on June 13 to bless a $56 billion compensation deal Musk received in 2018 that was nullified by a Delaware judge earlier this year.
While Musk’s pay would be the biggest in US corporate history, he is not the only head of a company testing new compensation limits.
Median total CEO compensation rose 11.4% in fiscal 2023 to $23.7 million, according to an Equilar analysis of firms with with revenues greater than $1 billion. That followed a 7.7% boost in 2022.
The number of CEOs in the S&P 500 who nabbed total pay packages worth more than $50 million has also jumped in recent years, according to a recent analysis from the Wall Street Journal.
Even among smaller companies, CEO compensation is rising.
The highest paid in 2023 was Broadcom (AVGO) boss Hock Tan, who made $162 million, predominantly from performance-based stock options exercised during the year.
The next highest was Palo Alto Networks (PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora, who took in $151 million in pay and exercised $266.4 million in performance-based stock options.
Pay for the top boss is rising at smaller companies too.
Median CEO compensation levels at Russell 3000 companies with revenue less than $50 million increased 19.3% between 2018 and 2022, according to a separate analysis conducted by data provider Gallagher.
That was a bigger leap than CEO pay at larger firms during that period. Those with annual revenue exceeding $20 billion had awards increase by 2.4%.
Not all CEOs have found shareholders receptive to these increases. Last week, 3M shareholders voted against $16.4 million in compensation for its former CEO Mike Roman, as well as other company executives.
To read more about CEOs pushing their pay rates to historic levels, click here.
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