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The Highest-Paid CEO by U.S. State in 2018

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July 30, 2019

Since the passage of Say on Pay in 2010, CEO compensation has been under the public eye and shareholder attention like never before. A recent Equilar study conducted with the Associated Press analyzed 2018 CEO compensation, broken down by the highest-paid CEO by U.S. state. The study delves into data covering the highest-paid CEOs at public companies in 46 states. To be included in this study, chief executives had to have been with their respective company for a minimum of two years and the Company had to have filed a proxy between January 1, 2019 and April 30, 2019.

The highest-paid CEO in 2018 was based in California – founder of Tesla, Elon Musk. Musk was awarded a total compensation of $2,284,044,884. Musk’s salary topped Maryland’s David M. Zaslav of Discovery, the second highest-paid CEO in the study, who earned $129,499,005. Musk’s $2.3 billion pay package in 2018 pulled California far ahead of the other states in comparison to 2017’s results. California came in second in 2017, with Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino’s compensation of $70,615,760.

In the 2017 study, it was brought to light that a correlation exists between state population size and CEO pay. In 2017, six of the top ten states with the highest-compensated CEOs were also within the top ten states in terms of population. In 2018, only four of the top ten states with the highest-compensated CEOs fell within the top ten states with respect to population. Miles D. White, of Abbott Laboratories in Illinois, just fell short of the top ten states in terms of CEO pay, coming in 11th place with a compensation package of nearly $24.2 million.

States with the top 10 highest-compensated chief executives fell within the upper half of the country in terms of population size. On the other hand, the study’s bottom five states in terms of CEO compensation fell within the bottom half of the states in regard to population. The last state in the study, South Dakota, featured David R. Emery of Black Hills, who earned total compensation of $4,100,438 in 2018. This may indicate a correlation between state population and CEO compensation.

Examining total compensation of CEOs allows for general study but may overlook trends or data patterns that a more concentrated analysis might highlight. Analyzing CEO compensation by state sheds light on trends at a more regional and local level.

View the full list.

*CEO pay includes total compensation information disclosed in company proxy statements for fiscal year 2018, including salary, bonus, stock and options valued at grant date, any deferred compensation, and other compensation (including benefits and perks).

Equilar offers data and solutions to assist companies in ensuring that their executive pay packages meet the standards of investors. The Equilar product suite includes executive compensation benchmarking tools, pay for performance alignment solutions, a Say on Pay Tracker, Investor Voting Results and much more. Visit https://www.equilar.com/shareholder-engagement.html to learn more.

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