Who was the highest-paid CEO in 2017?
Broadcom CEO Hock Tam is reaping the rewards of leading the chipmaker despite President Trump recently foiling his company's bid to buy Qualcomm in what would have been the biggest technology deal in history.
The executive was the the top-paid CEO last among publicly traded companies last year, with total compensation of more than $103 million, according to data from compensation research firm Equilar.
Overall, chief executives at the 100 largest public companies by revenue earned median compensation of $15.7 million, up 5 percent from the previous year, Equilar found. The CEOs on the list got a median pay bump of 6 percent in 2017 compared with the previous year.
Tam's monster payday stems largely from a long-term incentive award. He became CEO in 2015 after rival chipmaker Avago Technologies, which he led at the time, bought Broadcom for $37 billion merger.
Under his watch, Singapore-based Broadcom had sought to acquire U.S.-based Qualcomm in a $117 billion deal. But Mr. Trump in March blocked the transaction on national security grounds, highlighting the White House's harder line on cross-border mergers and focus on keeping the ownership of prominent tech companies in American hands.
No. 2 on Equilar's list of top-paid CEOs is AIG chief executive Brian Duperreault, who received total 2017 compensation of nearly $43 million. Duperreault was named CEO of the insurance giant in May 2017.
Oracle co-CEOs Mark Hurd and Safra Catz ranked third and fourth, with total pay of $40.8 million and $40.7 million, respectively. Both were named to their jobs in 2013 and report to Oracle founder, chairman, and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison.
Hurd joined the tech giant in 2010 and is responsible for corporate strategy and direction. Catz, formerly Chief Financial Officer at Oracle, has climbed her way up the ladder at the software company since joining in 1999.
Rounding out Equilar's top 10: Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger ($36.3 million); Pfizer's Ian Read ($26.2 million); PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi ($25.9 million); AT&T's Randall Stephenson ($25.3 million); Centene's Michael Neirdorff ($25.2 million); and Johnson & Johnson's Alex Gorsky ($22.8 million). Of the top 20 highest-paid chiefs, five were women.
The median CEO pay ratio, which compares their compensation with that of rank-and-file employees for the 100 largest publicly traded companies was 235:1.
