The successful individuals we know didn’t appear out of nowhere or suddenly. It takes a lot of bravery to put in the effort and devotion required to reach new heights. Here are a few of those who rose through the corporate ranks to become the world’s highest-paid CEOs.
1. Tim Cook – Apple Inc.
Tim Cook, an American business executive, was named CEO of Apple Inc. in 2011, and during his tenure, the firm’s sales and profit doubled, and its market value grew from $348 billion to $1.9 trillion. He earned $133.7 million in 2019, most of which came from stock bonuses.
2. Elon Musk – SpaceX and Tesla, Inc.
Elon Reeve Musk is one of the world’s wealthiest individuals. He is a well-known entrepreneur and business magnate who was born in South Africa. He founded a number of businesses, including Tesla Motors and SpaceX. As CEO of Tesla Inc., he was paid $595.3 million in 2019.
3. Sumit Singh- Chewy
Chewy’s Chief Executive Officer, Sumit Singh, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2019. He was appointed CEO in March 2018 and is Chewy’s highest-paid executive. His net worth is $88.1 million, and he received $108.1 million in stock awards and salary in 2019.
4. Thomas Rutledge – Charter Communications
Charter Communications’ ex-president and current chairman and CEO is Thomas M. Rutledge. In 2019, he earned a total of $116.5 million, the majority of which came from stock awards, salary, and bonuses.
5. Joseph Ianniello – CBS Entertainment Group
Joseph R. Ianniello is a media executive from the United States. He began his career at CBS in 1997 as Director of Financial Planning and is now President and Acting CEO of the company. He was the Chairman of ViacomCBS’ CBS Entertainment Group unit until March 2020. His earnings for the year totalled $116.5 million. Perks accounted for the majority of his earnings, followed by stock awards and pay.
6. Jonathan Gray – Blackstone Group
Jonathan Gray is a multi-billionaire businessman from the United States. He is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Group, a New York-based asset management business. In addition, he is the Chairman of Hilton Worldwide. His interest, stock incentives, and bonus income totaled $107.6 million in 2019.
7. Sundar Pichai – Alphabet Inc
Pichai Sundararajan, an Indian-American business leader, is the CEO of Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary Google. In 2019, he earned $86.1 million, the majority of which came through stock bonuses and perks.
8. Satya Nadella – Microsoft
Satya Nadella is the CEO of Microsoft Corporation. He is an Indian-American business leader. He was also executive vice president of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise Group earlier. He received $77.2 million in 2019 for his donations. The majority of it came through stock bonuses and incentives.
9. Robert Holmes Swan – Intel Corporation
Robert Holmes Swan is an American business professional who has worked for eBay and TRW Inc. as the CFO. He joined Intel as its Chief Financial Officer in 2016 and is currently the company’s CEO. In 2019, he earned $99 million, the majority of which came from stock awards and option awards.
10. Douglas Ingram – Sarepta Therapeutics Inc
From 2017, Douglas S. Ingram has served as President, CEO, and board member of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. He earned his JD and BS degrees from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, respectively. He is a member of the Board of Directors at Relay Therapeutics. He was paid $70.2 million last year, the majority of which came through option incentives and bonuses.