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It pays to be a CEO in America. Running a major U.S. corporation carries the intense responsibility of guiding an organization through market disruptions while maintaining financial growth. For CEOs, this pressure comes with lucrative pay packages. The median compensation for the 100 highest-paid chief executive officers in America reached $39.4 million in 2025, marking a 35.8% year-over-year increase.
For 19 years, Equilar and The New York Times have partnered to analyze trends in CEO compensation across corporate America. The Times recently published coverage of new findings from the annual study, highlighting a steep trajectory in corner-office pay. For the purposes of this post, Equilar analyzed just a portion of the findings provided to The New York Times. This post examines the 100 largest CEO pay packages among U.S. public companies with revenues of at least $1 billion and that filed a proxy statement by April 30, 2026 (see full methodology in footer).
The opening of this annual feature highlights the 10 highest-paid CEOs among Equilar 100 companies. To explore the full rankings, click the link below to access the interactive data, which allows you to sort by total compensation, revenue and other corporate metrics.
| EXECUTIVE NAME
COMPANY NAME (TICKER) |
TOTAL COMPENSATION | CHANGE IN PAY | FY 2025 REVENUE ($M) | |||
| 1 |
|
$132,298,849,867 | N/A | $94,827 | ||
| 2 |
|
$864,358,634 | 799% | $1,055 | ||
| 3 |
|
$821,090,355 | 3965% | $10,838 | ||
| 4 |
|
$741,137,105 | N/A | $4,371 | ||
| 5 |
|
$402,639,080 | 2604% | $5,387 | ||
| 6 |
|
$280,847,068 | 99088% | $12,457 | ||
| 7 |
|
$205,278,006 | 7692% | $63,887 | ||
| 8 |
|
$165,009,366 | 218% | $37,296 | ||
| 9 |
|
$118,891,594 | 280% | $59,396 | ||
| 10 |
|
$99,736,336 | 72% | $9,221 |
Key Trends and Takeaways
CEO pay reaches record highs. Median compensation for Equilar 100 chief executives surged 35.8% to $39.4 million in 2025, representing a record high in this study's history. Topping the list is Tesla’s Elon Musk, whose total compensation reached $132.3 billion, composed entirely of a long-term stock award tied to ambitious market capitalization and operational targets. Dylan Field of Figma followed at $864.4 million. In another record for this study, nine of the top 10 paid executives secured packages of at least nine figures.
Stock awards soar in value. Long-term stock awards remain the primary driver of total compensation for CEOs. The median value of stock awards for Equilar 100 leaders climbed 44.6% to $28.4 million in 2025, up from $19.6 million in 2024. Since long-term equity typically accounts for more than 70% of total compensation, fluctuations in stock value exert an outsized impact on overall pay.
Cash compensation posts modest gains. Overall, cash compensation—including salaries, bonuses and perks—ticked up 3.6% to $6.1 million in 2025. Base salaries held steady at $1.3 million and cash bonuses declined 5.4% to $3.4 million. Meanwhile, perks jumped 59.2%. The uptick in perks is closely tied to increased investments in security measures to better protect chief executives following the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The pay gap widens. The median Equilar 100 CEO Pay Ratio expanded 36.5% to 475:1 in 2025, up from 348:1 the prior year. The median employee earned $101,322 at Equilar 100 companies. While comparing equity-heavy CEO packages to standard employee salaries is structurally complex, the widening gap remains a focal point for public scrutiny eight years after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosure mandate went into effect.
Female representation drops by half. The Equilar 100 features just four women, a decline from eight on the previous year’s list. However, median compensation for these four female executives sat 7.9% higher than the cross-list median at $42.5 million. Jane Fraser of Citigroup led the group, earning $95.8 million.
UnitedHealth Group records the highest revenue in 2025. With a revenue of $447.6 billion, UnitedHealth Group topped all Equilar 100 companies in 2025. The median revenue for the group was $22.8 billion in 2025, as individual revenue levels increased 11% at the median from the prior year.
Opendoor boasts the largest shareholder return. Kasra Nejatian, CEO of Opendoor Technologies, received a package valued at $741.1 million, delivered entirely in long-term stock awards. The equity-heavy structure aligned with significant market performance, as Opendoor delivered the highest total shareholder return on the list at 264.4%, compared to a study median of 12%.
Methodology Notes: The Equilar 100 includes the largest pay packages awarded to CEOs from U.S.-based or listed companies with more than $1 billion in revenue that filed proxy statements for the most recently completed fiscal year by April 30, 2026. The figures represent what was awarded to a CEO in 2025, and include salary, cash bonuses, stock and options awards valued at grant date, and other compensation (including benefits and perks). These numbers exclude change in pension values and above-market earnings on deferred compensation. Total return was calculated as the sum of stock appreciation and dividends, divided by the starting price. While many of the companies in the Equilar 100 are consistent from year to year, due to changes in revenue, the list is not the same every year.
Senior Director of Content & Communications
Amit Batish, Senior Director of Content & Communications at Equilar, authored this post. Courtney Yu, Director of Research, provided data and analysis. Please contact Amit Batish, Sr. Director of Content & Communications, at abatish@equilar.com for more information on Equilar research and data analysis.
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