Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has been named the most compensated CEO on the Fortune 500 list. Last year, Musk realized compensation worth almost $23.5 billion, from exercising some Tesla stock options awarded in a 2018 multiyear moonshot grant.
As per Fortune’s analysis, this was the biggest CEO payday in 2021. Following, Musk, these are the 10 highest-paid CEOs as per the Fortune 500 list.
1. Elon Musk, Tesla ($23.5 billion)
As per Fortune 500, Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, “realized” compensation worth almost $23.5 billion in 2021, from exercising some Tesla stock options awarded in 2018.
2. Tim Cook, Apple ($770.5 million)
Tim Cook earned $770.5 million in 2021 alone, mostly as a part of a 10-year grant of shares worth $1.7 billion.
3. Jensen Huang, NVIDIA ($561 million)
A spokesperson acknowledged that during the latest fiscal year, Jensen Huang realized about $507 million from expiring options that had been granted in 2011 and 2012, reflecting the approximately 60x increase in the company’s share price over the [past] decade.
4. Reed Hastings, Netflix ($453.5 million)
Netflix ranked 115 on the Fortune 500, with an 18.8% change in revenue. As per a spokesperson, Reed Hastings‘s compensation in 2021 was $40.8 million, with $650,000 in cash and $39.7 million in stock options.
5. Leonard Schleifer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ($452.9 million)
The company ranked 231 on Fortune 500 2021 list. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals‘ revenue rose 89.1% in 2021 which was said to be driven by the company’s REGEN-COV antibody treatment for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
6. Marc Benioff, Salesforce ($439.4 million)
Salesforce was founded in 1999 by Marc Benioff with the marketing slogan “The End of Software.” Salesforce’s acquisitions of MuleSoft, Tableau, and Slack have led to an increase in revenue by 24.7% percent in 2021.
7. Satya Nadella, Microsoft ($309.4 million)
In 2021, Microsoft reported a 38% increase in profits, earning $61 billion. Despite the chip shortage that challenged Xbox game consoles, Microsoft ranked 14th on this year’s Fortune 500 list.
8. Robert A. Kotick, Activision Blizzard ($296.7 million)
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick earned $296.7 million last year, according to Fortune 500’s calculations, from the value realized on vested restricted stock.
9. Hock E. Tan, Broadcom ($288 million)
As shared by Fortune, Broadcom, which designs and manufactures a wide range of semiconductor and software products, ranked 128 on this year’s Fortune 500. Revenue for the company rose 14.9% in 2021.
10. Safra A. Catz, Oracle ($239.5 million)
Oracle slid down 11 spots to 91 on the Fortune 500. The company has struggled in recent years with low revenue growth.
