Fortune 500 CEO salary list released: median $15.9 million, top three of Musk, Cook, and Jen-Hsun Huang

"Fortune" magazine today released a list of the 10 highest-paid CEOs in Fortune 500 companies.

The list analyzed and evaluated the compensation plans of 280 Fortune 500 CEOs, and their total median compensation was $15.9 million, an increase of 30% over the same period last year.

When calculating the CEO's actual gross salary, Fortune measured the following metrics for the company's most recent fiscal year:

wages and bonuses;

Other compensation, such as vested restricted stock grants, long-term incentive payouts and allowances;

Stock gains in the form of value are realized by exercising stock options.

Since the value of outstanding options is unpredictable, they are omitted. 

1. SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk: $23.5 billion

SpaceX and Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk realized compensation worth nearly $23.5 billion in 2021 by exercising some Tesla stock options granted in 2018.

Tesla ranks 65th on this year's Fortune 500. The company had a big hit in 2021, bringing in $53.8 billion in revenue, up 71% from 2020, and expanding significantly in key markets in Europe and China. Tesla delivered 936,000 vehicles in 2021, an 87% increase, putting the company at the top of the global EV industry with a 14% market share.

2. Apple CEO Tim Cook: $770.5 million

Cook has been Apple's CEO since 2011. In 2021 alone, he took in $770.5 million, which was part of a 10-year stock grant worth $1.7 billion. Apple's market capitalization has increased by $2.2 trillion during his tenure, and such a high salary makes sense.

Apple is No. 3 in the Fortune 500. The company faces challenges due to a global shortage of chips. Apple will generate a massive $95 billion profit in 2021, more than any other U.S. company. 

3. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang: $561 million

Jen-Hsun Huang is the co-founder of Nvidia, a software company known for its advancements in graphics cards and artificial intelligence. The company is ranked 134th on this year's Fortune 500. Revenue soared 61.4%.

In the most recent fiscal year, Jensen Huang received about $507 million from expiring options granted in 2011 and 2012, a spokesman acknowledged, reflecting the company's stock price growth of about 60 times over the past decade.

4. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings: $453.5 million

Reed Hastings is the co-founder, CEO and chairman of streaming giant Netflix. Under his leadership, Netflix grew from a DVD mail delivery service to an online streaming giant.

Netflix ranked 115th on the Fortune 500 with an 18.8% increase in revenue. Netflix also faces increasing competition from streaming services.

A spokesperson disputed Fortune's analysis of actual compensation, only to reiterate the total value of his balance "awarded" in 2021: "According to our proxy statement, his compensation in 2021 is $40.8 million, of which Including $650,000 in cash and $39.7 million in stock options."

5. Leonard Schleifer, CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals: $452.9 million

Schleifer is the co-founder and CEO of Regeneron, a biopharmaceutical company that makes a variety of drugs for asthma, cancer, chronic pain, and more.

The company ranked 231st on this year's Fortune 500. Revenues grew 89.1% in 2021, driven by the company's REGEN-COV antibody therapy to prevent and treat COVID-19.

According to Fortune's analysis, a spokesperson noted that most of Schleifer's realized compensation "reflects the exercise of long-term options that have reached their ten-year expiration point" and said, "Regeneron's compensation philosophy has always been emphasized in the stock market. Options and other forms of equity-based awards, as we believe this aligns employee benefits with the typical long-term nature of drug development. 

6. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff: $439.4 million

Benioff founded Salesforce in 1999 with the marketing slogan "The End of Software," a cloud-based customer relationship management platform that ranked 136th on this year's Fortune 500.

Salesforce's MuleSoft, Tableau, and Slack acquisitions have helped fuel growth in recent years. 24.7% revenue growth in 2021.

7. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella: $309.4 million

This year, Nadella was named the "most underrated" CEO for the sixth year in a row, according to Fortune's survey of the world's most admired companies. Nadella has been at the top of the list since 2017.

Microsoft's profits rose 38 per cent to $61 billion last year, making it No. 4 on the Fortune 500, and revenue rose 17.5 per cent to $168 billion thanks to the successful launch of Surface laptops and 2-in-1 devices.

The company, which ranks No. 14 on this year's 500 lists, faces a shortage of chips for the Xbox game console.

8. Activision Blizzard CEO Robert A. Kotick: $296.7 million

Kotick became Activision's CEO in 1991. The gaming giant, known for games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, was ranked 396th on this year's Fortune 500.

Kotick earned $296.7 million from the realized value of vested restricted stock last year.

Despite rampant employee complaints and multiple lawsuits against game developers over sexism, harassment, and Kotick's personal mismanagement of assault claims, Microsoft's agreement in January to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion would be its biggest deal to date. Largest acquisition to date.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson reiterated that Activision Blizzard valued Kotick's compensation "granted" (but not realized) in 2021 at $826,549. She noted that Kotick cut his salary to $62,500 last year and credited his 31-year tenure with making Activision "one of the most successful game companies in the world."

9. Broadcom CEO Hock E. Tan: $288 million

Tan was born in Malaysia and studied at MIT.

Tan has been Broadcom's CEO since Avago bought the semiconductor company for $37 billion in 2015. Broadcom, which designs and manufactures various semiconductor and software products, was ranked 128th on this year's Fortune 500. The company's revenue grew 14.9% in 2021.

10. Oracle CEO Safra A. Catz: $239.5 million

Before joining Oracle in 1999 as senior vice president, Catz was a banker. She became Oracle's co-CEO in 2014 with Mark Hurd. Mark Hurd resigned in 2019, citing health concerns, and Catz became CEO.

Oracle, best known for its database software, has struggled with sluggish revenue growth. The company slipped 11 spots to No. 91 on the Fortune 500.

In December 2021, Oracle announced the acquisition of electronic health records company Cerner for $28 billion; as of May 2022, the deal is still under regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe.