US Major Corporations' CEO Compensation Increases for 6 Consecutive Years... Last Year's Median Approaches 20 Billion KRW

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The salaries of CEOs of major U.S. corporations increased for the sixth consecutive year last year, approaching the 20 billion won level.

On the 15th (local time), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing data from corporate information research firm MyLogIQ, that the median compensation for CEOs of about 400 companies in the S&P 500 index last year was $14.7 million (approximately 18.9 billion won). This figure includes salaries and stock options and represents a 12% increase compared to the same period last year.

Excluding stock options, the median pure cash compensation, including salary and bonuses, was $4.1 million, nearly a 30% increase from the previous year. The six consecutive years of rising CEO compensation appear to reflect the recent performance of U.S. companies.

Looking at the CEOs who received the highest compensation last year, they were concentrated in the technology and media sectors. The highest-paid CEO was Peter Kern of the online travel company Expedia Group, who received $296 million last year, including stock options. Most of this was in stock options, which WSJ reported, citing an Expedia spokesperson, will only be realized in 2024.

Following him was David Zaslav, CEO of the merged company of WarnerMedia and Discovery, who received $246 million in compensation. CEO Zaslav can exercise stock options worth over $200 million only if the merged company's stock price doubles within five years.

In third place was Bill McDermott, CEO of cloud-based software company ServiceNow, with $165.8 million, and fourth was Tim Cook, CEO of Apple since 2011, with $98.74 million. CEO Cook received stock options worth $82 million for the first time in ten years. Fifth place was Jamie Dimon, chairman of JP Morgan, with $84.43 million.

Meanwhile, electric vehicle company Tesla reported that CEO Elon Musk did not receive any compensation for the second consecutive year, following last year. Musk's stock options valued at $2.3 billion received in 2018 are now estimated to be worth $65 billion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.