5 Highest-Paid CEOs in America

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Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook is America’s highest-paid CEO according to the recently released Wall Street Journal/Hay Group Survey of CEO Compensation.

Cook was awarded $378 million last August when he succeeded Steve Jobs as the leader of the tech giant. The majority of Cook’s compensation comes from 1 million shares of AAPL. The shares, which are now valued at well over $500 million come with some hefty restrictions. Cook can only sell half of the shares after 2016. He’ll be free to sell the other half in 2021.

Let’s take a quick peek at four other CEOs who ranked among the list’s top five.

No. 2 – Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison, the founder and CEO of software company Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), saw his compensation rise to $76 million, which is about 11% more than he earned the previous year. Included in that amount was a $13.3 million bonus and stock options valued at close to $63 million. Since 2012 has been fairly tough on Oracle, Ellison may not remain in the No. 2 spot when the next list is published.

No. 3 – Leslie Moonves

Leslie Moonves, the CEO of broadcasting conglomerate CBS (NYSE:CBS), received about $69 million in compensation last year. That’s about a 29% raise from the year before. His pay included stock options (about $27 million), restricted stock (about $9 million) and a $30 million bonus.

No. 4 – Ron Johnson

Ron Johnson, the former head of Apple’s retail operation, was compensated about $53 million when he took the reins at J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) less than a year ago. However, what was perceived as a good deal at the time won’t turn out so great for Johnson unless he can help turn the struggling retailer around. Johnson gave up 250,000 restricted shares of AAPL for 1.66 million shares of restricted JCP stock. At the time, the JCP shares were valued at about $53 million. The AAPL shares he forfeited are currently worth about $133 million.

 No. 5 – Sanjay Jha

Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility Holdings (NYSE:MMI) was compensated close to $47 million in 2011. That figure includes stock options valued at about $34 million and restricted stock valued slightly north of $9 million. Jha will also receive up to about $61 million if he leaves Motorola Mobility within two years after Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) acquires the company.

You can read the entire Wall Street Journal/Hay Group Survey of CEO Compensation to find out how much money other CEOs are being paid.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2012/05/5-highest-paid-ceos-in-america/.

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