WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL: The list of the highest-paid public company CEOs has been a moving target, after some turnover in the ranks this year.
The would-be returning No. 1, Kewsong Lee of The Carlyle Group, had compensation of nearly $40.8 million in 2022, but he stepped down in August 2022. Longtime Leidos Holdings Inc. CEO Roger Krone stepped down this year, after getting $13.5 million in 2022 compensation. Science Applications International Inc. CEO Nazzic Keene stepped down just this month, but was paid about $8.7 million in total compensation for 2022. And Stanley Erck, the former president and CEO of Novavax Inc., made $8.4 million in 2022. All would have been included in the top 30 highest-paid CEOs here, if they were still at these posts.
The average total compensation for the top 30 we do have this year was $16.7 million, and all combined, they made a total of $501 million in 2022. But keep in mind, as usual, the vast majority of these compensation amounts are made up of stock awards. Stock awards made up about $307 million out of that total this year, or slightly more than 61%. The group also got more raises than pay cuts in the past year, with an average pay raise of 162% in 2022.
Once again, same as last year, only three women made the list, but this time, four CEOs on the list are not white (that’s an addition of one since last year).
And once again, the No. 1 highest-paid CEO still at the helm is different than before.
