Adapted by:
Miguel Jorge
WriterJournalist. I've spent more than half of my life writing about technology, science, and culture. Before landing here, I worked at Telefónica, Prisa, Globus Comunicación, Hipertextual, and Gizmodo. I'm part of Webedia's cross-section team.
Alba Mora
WriterAn established tech journalist, I entered the world of consumer tech by chance in 2018. In my writing and translating career, I've also covered a diverse range of topics, including entertainment, travel, science, and the economy.
When you think of the world’s highest-paid CEOs, you probably envision a select group of leaders from major tech companies that dominate today’s market. Names such as Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg typically come to mind. However, none of them come close to matching what America’s highest-paid CEO earns. You may never have heard of him or the company he leads.
A leader unknown to many. In a corporate landscape dominated by well-known figures such as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk or Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, the title of 2024’s highest-paid CEO goes to a relatively unknown executive: Jim Anderson.
Anderson is at the helm of Coherent, a tech company based in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, specializing in networking and laser systems. In 2024, he received a total payout of $101.5 million, significantly surpassing well-known leaders such as Starbucks’ Brian Niccol. Anderson’s remarkable salary package makes him the only CEO in Equilar’s list to surpass the nine-digit compensation threshold. The list ranks the top 100 companies with revenues exceeding $1 billion. Notably, the average CEO salary reached a record $25.6 million in 2024.
Interesting dynamics. Although Anderson’s base salary is just over $1 million, his cash remuneration was limited to $81,538 due to his joining Coherent in June 2024. He also received a signing bonus of half a million dollars.
Most of his compensation (99.4%) came from stock awards whose value unexpectedly soared. The surge was due to market enthusiasm following the announcement of his appointment. This caused Coherent’s share price to increase significantly, leading to an inflationary effect on the value of his stock awards.
Coherent even acknowledged the peculiarities in its proxy statement. The company’s shares were valued based on a 30-day moving average, which didn’t account for the subsequent surge in the stock market. As a result, it artificially inflated the overall size of the compensation package.
Additionally, Anderson’s payout included compensation for the loss of deferred shares accrued during his previous tenure at Lattice Semiconductor. There, he played a key role in the drastic increase in the company’s stock market value.
The Top 10 CEOs in 2024.
Ripple effect. Anderson’s departure from Lattice and arrival at Coherent had an immediate impact. On the day of the announcement, Lattice’s market value plummeted by 15.5%, resulting in a loss of $1.6 billion. Meanwhile, Coherent’s shares surged by 22.9%, increasing its market cap by nearly $2 billion.
Since then, Coherent has experienced steady growth, whereas Lattice’s value has declined by 34%. Anderson has a proven track record. During his time at Lattice, the stock rose more than 875%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500. In other words, his reputation as a transformative leader has become as valuable an asset as any product line.
The era of stock awards. The case of Anderson highlights a prevailing trend in contemporary executive compensation. According to Equilar, stock-based pay now accounts for around 73% of CEOs’ median total compensation, a 41% increase from the previous year. This compensation is tied to stock market performance rather than immediate results. It’s allowed for justifying very high pay, even in companies where profits don’t consistently align with performance.
For example, Chewy CEO Sumit Singh received $35.1 million in 2024 despite the company’s shares falling by 60%, the worst performance among the listed entities. In contrast, Nvidia achieved the best stock market performance of the year with a 215% increase. However, Huang received $34.1 million. Still, his fortune is estimated at $92 billion due to his 3.5% ownership stake in the company.
The tech CEOs’ salaries in 2023.
Benefits, security, and inequality. There’s much more to discuss beyond just salaries and stock awards. Many CEOs enjoy extravagant fringe benefits. For instance, according to Barron’s, Cook received more than $780,000 for personal security services and $655,000 for private flights. Similarly, Starbucks provides Niccol with flights exclusively on private jets.
Moreover, this type of spending has become more common due to increasing security concerns, particularly following the murder of UnitedHealth Group’s CEO in the streets of New York City. A related Equilar study shows that nearly one-third of S&P 500 companies offer some form of executive protection, marking a 28% increase since 2023.
Elon Musk. You may have noticed Musk’s absence from the list. This is because Tesla hasn’t filed its proxy statement yet. His previous 10-year pay package, approved in 2018 and valued at around $70 billion, was struck down twice by a Delaware judge and is now awaiting a ruling in the state Supreme Court.
Coupled with the growing disconnect between actual performance and executive compensation, this situation has intensified criticism regarding the lack of effective controls on corporate pay. Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Barron’s that there’s no real control over what CEOs are paid.
He added that many CEOs aren’t extraordinary, despite being compensated as if they were. Baker referenced Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, who famously said, “I try to invest in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will.”
A sign of the times. At a time when wage inequality and wealth concentration are sparking intense debate, the case of Anderson serves as both an outlier and a reflection of a broader structural trend.
Tangible achievements and market validation support his ascent to the top of the salary ladder. However, the model that enables this rise is part of an increasingly contested system. In this system, the perception of value often outweighs the objective reality of performance.For now, this system seems tailored for individuals like Anderson, who are skilled at navigating the intricate balance among numbers, expectations, and stocks.
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