It is rare for a company to skyrocket to success without putting in some effort. People’s deeds are what make businesses prosper. Human beings are responsible for the success of a business by making decisions, enforcing policies, and managing the available financial and human resources. CEOs are what we call the top brass of an organization (CEOs).
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the highest-ranking corporate officer and is responsible for the company’s most important decisions, as well as leading the company’s executive team and representing it to the outside world. Some of them must put in long hours to secure the company’s success and rise to the position of highest-paid CEO in the world.
High-tech companies are home to several of the world’s highest-paid CEOs. Besides their impressive educational backgrounds, these CEOs have also brought fresh ideas and originality to the table. It takes grit and determination to make it as a business owner.
However, the ability to inspire confidence in one’s employees and the confidence of investors are equally essential for success in the role of chief executive officer. Without further ado, I give you the world’s top 10 highest-paid CEOs.
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Who are the highest paid CEOs of 2022?
1. Elon Musk
In 2022, Elon Musk stands as the wealthiest individual and also the highest-paid CEO in the world. This tycoon established SpaceX, is a prominent investor, and is the driving force behind Tesla. Elon Musk is the highest-paid CEO in the world, taking home nearly $6.7 billion in annual salary.
Musk has also founded or co-founded other additional businesses. He also helped start Neuralink, PayPal, and OpenA1 before launching The Boring Company. Musk recently spent $44 billion to acquire the American social networking service Twitter.
Even though he does not get a salary from Tesla, Musk has been the highest-earning U.S. executive for the past three years running. Instead, he will receive stock options as the company fulfills financial and expansion targets.
Musk’s $219 billion in wealth makes him the wealthiest person in the world, so his performance-based compensation package must be quite sweet.
2. Michael T. Pykosz
Oak Street Health is a network of primary care centers for Medicare-eligible adults, and Michael T. Pykosz serves as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. In addition to his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, the 39-year-old business magnate holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Notre Dame.
At one time, Mr. Pykosz worked for The Boston Consulting Group as a Principal. Oak Street Health was formed in 2013 by Pykosz and two of his coworkers from Boston Consulting Group. As of this writing, Oak Street Health employs approximately 750 people, with over 20 separate clinics. Mike Pykosz is the world’s second highest-paid CEO in 2022, earning a total of $568 million in salary and other benefits.
3. Trevor Bezdek
Trevor is the co-CEO of GoodRx, a firm that provides information and tools to assist individuals to save money on their prescription drug costs. Prior to this, he was the Managing Partner at LLC, Tryarc and LLC. He graduated from Stanford University with a degree in biological sciences.
After realizing that the United States healthcare system needed to reduce prescription prices, Trevor founded Tryarc, a technology firm that provides planning and execution services to healthcare and media enterprises. Later, they expanded into one of California’s most prominent private IT service providers, with such clients as Sony, Toyota, and Anthem/Blue Cross.
In 2007, Trevor negotiated a sale of his company to NTT. In order to facilitate communication between researchers in the life sciences, Trevor co-created Biowire. With Trevor’s digital telemedicine platform, people may find local pharmacies that sell their medications at a discount. In 2020, his compensation package was worth roughly $980,000 including base salary, bonus, and other incentives. More than $500 million was awarded to him in stock options.
4. Douglas Hirsch
One of GoodRx’s original members and current co-CEO, Douglas Hirsch was the CEO of DailyStrength, Inc., a healthcare-oriented social network with an emphasis on support groups, before he co-founded GoodRx.
Mr. Hirsch attended Tufts University and graduated with a BA in Political Science. He has worked at Facebook, Inc. and Yahoo in high-ranking roles. Mr. Hirsch, like Trevor, earns approximately $497.8 million from GoodRx per year, ranking him among the highest-paid CEOs in the world in 2022.
5. Eric Wu
Opendoor Technologies, where Wu serves as CEO, is a real estate company. Opendoor is a home-buying and selling software created by the firm, which went public in December 2020. Because of the IPO, Wu’s salary increased by a whopping 134,000% from the previous year.
Most of Wu’s $388 million salary came from stock awards, as one might expect. Although his salary was $189,000, CEOs typically make much more than that in cash.
Except for Musk, Wu earns the least of our top earners at $200,000, well below the $500,000 taken in by GoodRX’s co-CEOs.
Read also: Top 6 women CEOs of 2022
