Knowledge Center Reports

Equilar 100: Highest-Paid CEOs at the Largest Companies by Revenue

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April 10, 2019

Each year, the Equilar 100 examines CEO compensation at the largest companies by revenue to provide an early look at executive pay trends. The study includes companies that filed annual proxy statements before March 31, considered the “half-way” point in the annual proxy season. Of course, thousands more public companies will file executive compensation data during the month of April, and the annual Equilar 200 study with The New York Times will be forthcoming in late May. That study will provide a comprehensive look at the largest pay packages provided to all public company chief executives in fiscal year 2018.

The introductory page of this feature shows the Top 10 highest-paid CEOs at Equilar 100 companies. Below the highest-paid CEO table, there is a link to the full Equilar 100 in an interactive chart that allows you to sort by compensation, revenue and other measurements. A summary of key highlights from the report follows on this page.

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Highest-Paid CEOs at Equilar 100 Companies

	EXECUTIVE NAME COMPANY (Ticker)	TOTAL COMP.	CHANGE IN PAY	FY End Revenue ($MM)
1.	Mark V. Hurd Oracle (ORCL)	$108,295,023	165%	$39,831
2.	Safra A. Catz Oracle (ORCL)	$108,282,333	166%	$39,831
3.	Robert A. Iger Walt Disney (DIS)	$65,645,214	81%	$59,434
4.	James R. Murdoch Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA)	$44,415,365	125%	$30,400
5.	Michael F. Neidorff Centene (CNC)	$26,122,414	3%	$60,116
6.	Satya Nadella Microsoft (MSFT)	$25,843,263	29%	$110,360
7.	Randall L. Stephenson AT&T (T)	$25,600,312	1%	$170,756
8.	Michael L. Corbat Citigroup (C)	$24,179,166	36%	$65,500
9.	Dennis A. Muilenburg Boeing (BA)	$23,392,187	38%	$101,127
10.	Miles D. White Abbott Laboratories (ABT)	$22,872,393	46%	$30,578

The full list of CEOs is on the following page in an interactive table.

Click Here

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Key Trends and Takeaways

• Median pay decreased slightly for Equilar 100 CEOs. Median pay for Equilar 100 CEOs overall was $15.6 million in fiscal year 2018, in comparison to $15.7 million for the CEOs on the previous year’s list.* On an individual level, Equilar 100 CEOs saw a 0.6% pay decrease at the median in fiscal year 2018. By comparison, median pay for CEOs on last year’s Equilar 100 list increased by 5%.

• The median CEO pay ratio for the Equilar 100 was 254:1. As 2018 was the first year all Equilar 100 companies were required to report the ratio of CEO pay to that of a median employee under the SEC disclosure requirement, the median ratio was 254: 1. In comparison to 2017, the ratio increased from 235:1. However, in 2017, just 69 Equilar 100 companies disclosed the ratio because the disclosure was required for only those companies whose fiscal year began on or after January 1, 2017.

• Women represent less than 10% of Equilar 100 CEOs. Just nine women hold a chief executive position at an Equilar 100 company, this is an increase from eight in 2017. Among the nine, three are on the top 20 highest-paid on the list. Safra Catz of Oracle, third on the list, was awarded $108.3 million in 2018. Indra Nooyi—who made the top 10 highest-paid list in the previous year’s study—departed as CEO of Pepsi, leaving Catz as the only women on the top 10 highest-paid list this year.

• Apple topped Berkshire Hathaway in total revenue. For two consecutive years, Berkshire Hathaway was the largest company by revenue in the Equilar 100 study, topping out Apple each year. In 2018, Apple topped Berkshire Hathaway with a revenue of $265.5 billion, while Berkshire Hathwway was the only other company on the Equilar 100 list to have a revenue over $200 billion at $247.5 billion. AT&T had the third-largest revenue on the list at $170.8 billion.

*Note: While many of the companies in the Equilar 100 are consistent from year to year, due to changes in revenue and floating filing dates the list is not the same every year.

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For information regarding the Equilar 100 and the underlying datasets, or to learn more about Equilar Research Services, please contact the Equilar research team at researchservices@equilar.com.

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