The highest-paid CEO of last year wasn’t from a tech company or a financial firm, but from Axon Enterprise, the maker of Tasers used by various police departments. Rick Smith, CEO and co-founder, earned nearly $165 million last year, primarily through stock options valued at over $164 million, after reaching specific performance targets over several years. His basic salary was $31,201.
Smith mentioned that these stock awards were part of a program available to all Axon employees, allowing them to convert salary into stock options contingent on share price performance. “It creates that startup kind of vibe,” he noted, having served as CEO since 1993.
Axon’s stock surged over 20% in the past month following robust first-quarter results and has increased more than 700% in the last five years, raising the company’s valuation to nearly $60 billion.
Smith’s compensation outstripped that of well-known companies like Starbucks and Apple, according to data from MyLogIQ. In the second position, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol received a $5 million bonus plus stock awards totaling around $90 million.
Third place went to Larry Culp of GE Aerospace with $89 million, followed by Steve Schwarzman of Blackstone at $84 million. Apple CEO Tim Cook earned close to $75 million, which included a $3 million salary and a $58 million stock award.
The top 20 also featured KKR co-CEOs Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall ($73 million and $64 million, respectively), Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters (approximately $62 million and $60 million), and Salesforce’s Marc Benioff with $55 million.
A study by Equilar and The Associated Press revealed that CEO compensation in the S&P 500 saw a 12.6% increase year-on-year in 2023.