Meet world's highest-paid CEO who receives nine-figure pay package, not Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai, Mukesh Ambani, he is...

In 2024, the title of America's highest-paid CEO didn’t go to a household name like Elon Musk, Tim Cook, or Satya Nadella, but to a relatively lesser-known executive — Jim Anderson, the CEO of Coherent Corp. While Coherent isn’t as famous as some Silicon Valley giants, it’s a major player in the semiconductor and laser technology sector. Anderson’s massive paycheck of USD 101.5 million last year topped the Equilar 100 list, which tracks CEO pay at U.S. public companies earning over USD 1 billion in revenue.

What’s surprising is that nearly all of Anderson’s compensation, 99.4% came from stock awards, not from salary or benefits. This type of compensation is meant to reward long-term performance, showing how companies are linking CEO pay more and more with shareholder value.

Anderson only joined Coherent in mid-2024, after leaving his position as CEO at Lattice Semiconductor. His departure had a big impact, Lattice’s stock dropped by 16%, while Coherent’s stock jumped 23%, indicating that investors had strong faith in Anderson’s leadership.

Coming in second on the list was Brian Niccol, the CEO of Starbucks, who earned USD 95.8 million in 2024. Like Anderson, a large portion of Niccol’s earnings came from long-term equity-based compensation.

Overall, the Equilar 100 report showed a clear trend: CEO pay is rising, mostly because of stock-based awards, which increased by 40.5% compared to 2023. In fact, stock now makes up nearly 75% of total CEO compensation. In contrast, cash pay (base salary and bonuses) stayed fairly steady, rising just 2%. Surprisingly, CEO perks, such as travel, security, and other benefits, rose by 16.9%, reaching a median value of USD 452,730.

On the company revenue side, Walmart took the top spot with USD 648.1 billion in revenue, surpassing Apple, which reported USD 391 billion. The median company revenue on the list was USD 24.7 billion.

As companies tie executive pay more to long-term success, the gap between average and top-paid CEOs continues to grow, and Jim Anderson’s rise is a perfect example of that shift.