5 Highest-Paid CEOs in America

by Angela Nazworth | May 22, 2012 2:35 pm

[1]Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL[2]) CEO Tim Cook is America’s highest-paid CEO according to the recently released Wall Street Journal[3]/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[4]), 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[5], 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[6]), 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[7]) 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[8] 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[9]) 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[10]) acquires the company[11].

You can read the entire Wall Street Journal/Hay Group Survey of CEO Compensation[12] to find out how much money other CEOs are being paid.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/05/5-highest-paid-ceos-in-america/

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