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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →The highest reported 2025 CEO compensation award in Equilar’s ranking was Elon Musk’s $132.3 billion Tesla package. The figure is not a cash salary: the ranking measures total disclosed compensation, including stock and option awards valued when granted. The list covers a defined group of large U.S.-based or U.S.-listed companies whose proxy statements were filed by April 30, 2026.
Who were the eight highest-paid CEOs in the U.S.?
These are Equilar’s rankings of 2025 compensation awards, based on proxy filings from U.S.-based or listed companies with more than $1 billion in revenue that filed by April 30, 2026. The amounts are reported total compensation, not cash salary or a measure of how much each executive ultimately collected.
| Rank | CEO | Company | 2025 reported total compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elon R. Musk | Tesla, Inc. | $132,298,849,867 |
| 2 | Dylan Field | Figma, Inc. | $864,358,634 |
| 3 | Shankh S. Mitra | Welltower Inc. | $821,090,355 |
| 4 | Kasra Nejatian | Opendoor Technologies Inc. | $741,137,105 |
| 5 | Robert J. Scaringe | Rivian Automotive, Inc. | $402,639,080 |
| 6 | Niraj Shah | Wayfair Inc. | $280,847,068 |
| 7 | Hock E. Tan | Broadcom Inc. | $205,278,006 |
| 8 | David M. Zaslav | Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. | $165,009,366 |
Equilar’s 2026 analysis supplies the ranks and amounts. The ranking concerns awards for 2025; it does not establish that every person listed still held the CEO role on October 4, 2026.
What does “total compensation” include?
Equilar’s reported totals combine salary, cash bonuses, stock and option awards valued at grant date, and other compensation such as benefits and perks. The methodology excludes changes in pension values and above-market earnings on deferred compensation. That means “salary” is an imprecise label for this list: the largest totals can be driven predominantly by equity rather than annual cash pay. (Equilar; Associated Press)
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Grant-date value is not the same as money received
Stock and option awards are disclosed using grant-date values for compensation reporting. Their eventual value can be much higher or lower, depending on share prices, vesting and performance conditions. The AP notes that realized values may vary widely from company estimates. So Musk’s listed $132.3 billion is not evidence that he received that amount in cash during 2025. (Associated Press)
Why Musk’s total is an outlier
Equilar reports that Musk’s $132.3 billion total consisted entirely of stock awards tied to long-term market-capitalization and operational targets. It is an award valuation in a particular reporting year, not ordinary annual wages or a cash paycheck. Across Equilar’s 100 highest-paid CEOs, the median stock-award value was $28.4 million in 2025, up 44.6% from $19.6 million in 2024. (Equilar)
How these figures compare with broader CEO pay
Different CEO-pay reports can show very different medians because they include different companies and executives. Equilar’s ranking focuses on the 100 largest disclosed packages in its defined universe; the Associated Press and Equilar’s separate S&P 500 survey focuses on longer-tenured CEOs at companies in that index.
| Measure | Equilar 100 (2025 awards) | AP/Equilar S&P 500 survey (2025 pay) |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 100 highest-paid CEOs at U.S.-based or listed companies with more than $1 billion in revenue; filings through April 30, 2026 | 337 S&P 500 CEOs serving at least two full consecutive fiscal years; companies filed January 1–April 30, 2026 |
| Median total compensation | $39.4 million, up 35.8% year over year | $17.7 million, up 5.9% from 2024 |
| Median stock awards | $28.4 million, up 44.6% from $19.6 million in 2024 | $10.9 million, up 11.5% |
| Median salary | Not stated in Equilar’s 2026 report summary | $1.3 million, up 3.9% |
| Median cash bonuses and performance awards | Not stated in Equilar’s 2026 report summary | $2.7 million, up 10.1% |
Sources: Equilar and the Associated Press. AP says the median component figures need not add up to the median total, because each measure is calculated across the survey population.
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Worker-pay comparisons need the same care
In half the companies in AP’s survey, it would take the median worker 200 years to earn what the CEO earned in one year, based on each company’s own pay-ratio disclosure. That statistic describes the surveyed companies and their disclosed ratios; it should not be applied to every employer. (Associated Press)
Why CEO pay rankings can change between reports
Proxy filing cutoffs matter. Equilar’s earlier 2026 early-look analysis used a March 31 cutoff, while the later ranking included filings through April 30; the top sequence changed as more company disclosures became available. An early list is therefore not interchangeable with the later, broader one. (Equilar 2026 report; Equilar early-look report)
The AP/Equilar median is also not a competing answer to the top-eight ranking. It covers S&P 500 companies and requires CEOs to have served at least two full consecutive fiscal years, while the Equilar 100 is designed to capture the largest packages in a broader defined company universe. Those samples answer different questions, so their medians are not directly contradictory. (Associated Press; Equilar)
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read a CEO pay number
When comparing executive compensation, check what the number represents and how the award works—not just its headline size. A useful comparison asks:
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- What is counted? Separate salary and cash incentives from stock, options and other disclosed compensation.
- When was equity valued? Grant-date value is an accounting disclosure measure; realized value depends on later outcomes.
- What conditions apply? Review vesting schedules and any performance or market targets attached to awards.
- What population is being ranked? Check the company universe, CEO tenure requirements and proxy filing cutoff.
These distinctions are essential to interpreting the 2025 list: its ranking measures disclosed compensation awards under a specific methodology, not eight executives’ cash salaries or final investment gains. (Equilar; Associated Press)
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