Can you imagine not remotely having to worry about money? Like truly never having to worry and knowing your children’s children’s children would never have to worry. Most of us will never be able to fathom that kind of money. But boy would it be nice. I know money can’t buy happiness but it could reduce my stress level dramatically. I’m over here slaving away trying to hit my bonus at work. But that money isn’t even a penny compared to the bonuses of some of the world’s highest-paid CEOs. New research provided to us by The Stock Dork looked at the average yearly bonus payments of the top 50 market cap companies over the past 5 years. From this, they created a list of those CEOs who receive the highest average bonuses.
And you may want to sit down for this. It may anger you. Or it may inspire you to get to work. Does anyone have a spare billion-dollar idea I can borrow? Bonuses for these CEOs range from a sparse $5,000,000+ to nine figures. Yes, a nine-figure bonus payment. That’s on top of a salary. This is precisely where I felt sick. And listen I’m not one of those “eat the rich”, or “billionaires shouldn’t exist” people. If you are good for you I respect everyone’s opinion. I also respect people who work hard and ultimately make a lot of money. But then I also think of the other people in these companies doing the brunt of the work, who aren’t getting a salary that is remotely this much. I’m not sure what the answer is here. And I’m probably just rambling at this point. So back to the data.
The Data
For the sake of this study, bonuses are considered cash, stock, and stock options. According to The Stock Dork, the list was compiled using “data from the companies’ most recent financial statements, SEC filings, and public annual reports. This data was then cross-referenced to ensure accuracy, with a focus specifically on the bonus component of executive compensation.”
There was one clear front runner, that won’t surprise you. Keep reading to see the 9 largest bonuses of CEOs. Thanks to our friends at The Stock Dork for providing us with this data.
9. Shantanu Narayen
Shantanu Narayen is the CEO of Adobe Systems. He’s held this position since 2007 and his average yearly bonus payment is $34,907,765.
8. Patrick P. Gelsinger
(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Being the CEO of Intel is how Patrick Gelsinger makes his money. He’s been a fixture in Silicon Valley for more than 40 years and takes home an average bonus of $37,244,160.
7. Jamie Dimon
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Finance can also be lucrative, it sure is for Jamie Dimon. Dimon is the CEO of JPMorgan Chase where he walks away with an average yearly bonus of $40,624,000.
6. Satya Nadella
(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Satya Nadella heads up Microsoft. That gig is worth an average bonus of $41,198,585.
5. Tim Cook
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
If Microsoft is on this list you know Apple is too. And they are back to back with Apple CEO Tim Cook getting a similar (if $2 million is really that much money) with an average yearly bonus of $41,198,585.
4. Safra Catz
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The largest bonus to a female CEO goes to Safra Ctaz of Oracle. If you don’t know what Oracle is don’t feel bad I didn’t either it’s software that is a relational database management system. Perahps if I knew that I’d be making closer to the range of her bonus which is $50,794,313. You can take two digits off that and still make me happier than I’ve ever been.
3. Andy Jassy
(Photo by Thos Robinson/Getty Images for The New York Times)
The third largest average bonus for CEOs? It goes to Andy Jassy of Amazon. Can I get some sort of percentage of this since I’m spending so much with Amazon? He’s making $53,407,804 of bonus money on average.
2. Sundar Pichai
(Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Sundar Pichai is the CEO of Alphabet or more recognizably Google. Yeah you know he’s raking it in with an average yearly bonus of $98,929,951.
1. Elon Musk
(Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
And to no one’s surprise the top spot goes to Elon Musk for his role at Tesla. That average yearly bonus? A measley $456,797,701. Can I borrow 100k Elon? That’s like a drink out of a vending machine in your budget.
