As the world embraces the digital era, CEOs of tech companies start to dominate. Executives in the automobile or healthcare industry make around $200,000 to $155,000 a year, while tech leaders take home a whopping $26.3 million. That is $8 million more than the salaries of top executives in construction, finance, or real estate.
Tech CEOs earn big, but leaders of giant tech firms take it to another level. Dive into the numbers and discover how much do CEOs of tech companies make annually in this article.
Read on.
How Much Are Top Tech CEOs Earning?
The tech industry is like a money powerhouse. The huge executive salaries of top CEOs highlight how much the current world values innovation and leadership, making the tech industry a league of its own in the business world.
Here’s an overview of the salaries of top tech CEOs in the world:
| CEO | Company | BasePay | Equity | Bonus | Others | Total Compensation |
| Tim Cook | Apple | 4.70% | 74.30% | 16.90% | 4% | $63,209,845 |
| Sundar Pichai | Alphabet Inc. | 23% | – | – | 77.30% | $8,802,824 |
| George Kurtz | CrowdStrike | 2.00% | 93.80% | 2.60% | 1.50% | $46,983,855 |
| Safra Catz | Oracle | 18.10% | – | 79.30% | 2.60% | $5,250,680 |
| Mark Anderson | Alteryx | 1.10% | 97.60% | 1.10% | 0.20% | $57,191,521 |
| Satya Nadella | Microsoft | 5.20% | 80.90% | 13.20% | 0.70% | $48,512,537 |
| Jeff Lawson | Twilio | 97.50% | – | – | 2.50% | $76,859 |
| Charles Robbins | Cisco Systems | 4.40% | 75.70% | 19.70% | 0% | $31,843,708 |
| Mark Zuckerberg | Meta Platforms | – | – | – | 100.00% | $24,399,968 |
| Daniel Schulman | PayPal | 4.30% | 90.40% | – | 5.30% | $22,138,954 |
| Jen-Hsun Huang | NVIDIA | 2.90% | 78% | 11.70% | 7.30% | $34,167,902 |
| Anthony Wood | Roku | 5.90% | 94.00% | – | 0.10% | $20,218,958 |
| Amanpal Bhutani | GoDaddy | 6.30% | 87.10% | 6.40% | 0% | $15,877,217 |
| Andrew Wilson | Electronic Arts | 5.10% | 79.50% | 13.40% | 2.00% | $25,643,093 |
| Enrique Lores | HP Inc. | 6.70% | 81.60% | 10.20% | 1.60% | $19,458,431 |
| Andrew Jassy | Amazon | 26.90% | – | – | 73.10% | $1,357,764 |
| Arvind Krishna | IBM | 7.40% | 72.80% | 17.20% | 2.70% | $20,375,243 |
| Patrick Gelsinger | Intel | 6.40% | 74.20% | 17.20% | 2.20% | $16,743,400 |
| Shantanu Narayen | Adobe | 3.30% | 89.20% | 6.70% | 0.80% | $44,932,578 |
| Michael S. Dell | Dell | 31.30% | – | 67.10% | 1.60% | $3,030,405 |
| Marc Benioff | Salesforce | 3.90% | 76.50% | 7.80% | 11.70% | $39,642,173 |
| Cristiano Amon | Qualcomm | 6% | 89.90% | 2.30% | 2.10% | $23,490,335 |
| Sasan K. Goodarzi | Intuit | 4% | 88.60% | 7.30% | 0.10% | $27,305,429 |
| Elon Musk | Tesla | – | – | – | – | $0 |
| Dara Khosrowshahi | Uber | 4.10% | 82% | 13.10% | 1.10% | $24,248,208 |
| Tobias Lütke | Shopify | – | 100.00% | – | – | $20,000,156 |
| Eric Yuan | Zoom | – | 93.50% | – | 7% | $28,082,133 |
| Julie Sweet | Accenture | 4.90% | 82.60% | 10.50% | 2.00% | $31,550,906 |
| Raghu Raghuram | VMware | 7.60% | 78.80% | 13.50% | 0.10% | $13,209,399 |
| Hock E. Tan | Broadcom | 1% | 99.20% | – | 0.10% | $161,826,161 |
| Lisa Su | AMD | 4.00% | 91.20% | 4.70% | 0.10% | $30,348,281 |
| Matthew Prince | Cloudflare | 1.90% | 94.20% | – | 4% | $20,515,350 |
| Brian Chesky | Airbnb Inc. | – | – | – | 100.00% | $295,125 |
| Robert Kotick | Activision Blizzard Inc. | 34.90% | – | – | 65% | $178,882 |
| David Baszucki | Roblox | – | – | – | 100% | $2,136,740 |
| Adam Foroughi | AppLovin | 0.50% | 99.50% | – | – | $83,361,678 |
| William McDermott | ServiceNow | 3.50% | 87.20% | 8.40% | 0.90% | $37,606,244 |
| Bill Ready | 98.90% | – | – | 1.10% | $522,667 | |
| Michael Miebach | Mastercard | 4.80% | 78.20% | 15.80% | 1.20% | $25,746,498 |
| Jamie Iannone | eBay | 4.60% | 79.10% | 15.40% | 0.90% | $21,560,669 |
| 📝Note The net worth and salaries of top executives on this article were based on the value presented in August 2024. |
Check out an in-depth discussion about the highest-paid tech CEOs and their salaries below:
1. Tim Cook
Company: Apple (AAPL)
Total 2023 Salary: $63,209,845
Net Worth: $2.2 billion
Tim Cook has been the CEO of Apple Inc. since succeeding Steve Jobs in 2011. Before joining Apple, he was Compaq’s Vice President for Corporate Materials. He also worked at IBM for 12 years as Director of North American Fulfillment.
Cook’s executive salary package at Apple includes a combination of salary, bonuses, stock awards, and other benefits. Check out the photo below for a full breakdown of his compensation:
Tim Cook’s wealth primarily comes from stock awards and bonuses that vary annually depending on Apple’s performance. The only constant component in his compensation is his base salary of $3 million, which has remained unchanged since 2018.
His base salary may seem less than what CEOs of major corporations earn. However, Tim Cook’s $3 million executive base pay is higher than those of founder CEOs like George Kurtz and Mark Zuckerberg. Founders of top tech companies have an average base pay of $500,000.
| ❓ Did You Know? In January 2023, Apple announced that Tim Cook would receive a 40% pay cut in response to shareholder feedback on the decline of the company’s stocks. Cook’s 2023 total compensation is expected to drop to $49 million. His base salary remains at $3 million. The rest is split between cash incentives and equity. |
2. Sundar Pichai
Company: Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
Total 2023 Salary: $8,802,824
Net Worth: $1.71 billion
Sundar Pichai is among 2022’s highest-paid tech CEOs worldwide. The Indian-American executive joined Google in 2014, where he developed core products like Google Chrome, Chrome OS, and Google Drive. In 2019, he was named the CEO of Alphabet Inc.—Google’s parent company.
Pichai’s compensation fluctuates annually depending on the company’s performance and how salary components are split. Here’s a quick rundown of his executive compensation in 2023:
Pichai’s salary in 2023 decreased by 96.11% compared to that of 2022, reflecting a significant reduction in his compensation package.
In contrast to other tech CEOs, Sundar Pichai’s 2022 compensation worth $225.9 million is notable due to the significant equity component. It included a $218 million equity, which comes from his triennial stock grant. Though it is 21% less than the 2019 allotment.
Pichai is the non-founder CEO with the highest stock awards. His equity is 342.91% more than that of George Kurtz, the CrowdStrike executive with the highest equity amount among founder CEOs.
It is amusing how Sundar Pichai’s compensation and net worth are on par with other executives despite starting as a mere company employee himself. Watch the video below to discover how he succeeded:
3. George Kurtz
Company: CrowdStrike (CRWD)
Total 2024 Salary: $46,983,855
Net Worth: $4.1 billion
The global economy might lose $10.5 trillion per year to cybercrime by 2025. This emphasizes the importance of cybersecurity efforts led by industry experts like George Kurtz. He is a well-known figure in the cybersecurity industry as the Chief Technology Officer of McAfee since 2009.
After leaving in 2011, he co-founded CrowdStrike—a company known for its cloud-based endpoint security solutions. Kurtz was named CEO a year after the company was launched.
Under Kurtz’s leadership, CrowdStrike grew significantly. The cybersecurity company even reached a market cap of $65.13 billion as of August 2024.
George Kurtz’s effectiveness as an executive is widely recognized, which is why he is one of the highest-paid tech CEOs. Below is a clear presentation of how his salary is split into particular components:
Even though he gets less base pay and compensation-like awards than the two aforementioned top tech CEOs, Kurtz is unrivaled when it comes to one thing: stakes.
A Harvard Business Review article reveals that “less than 1 in 20 CEOs own over 5% of the company’s outstanding shares.” While non-founder CEOs earn higher base pay than founder executives, the latter holds supremacy in equity and shares.
Tim Cook only holds 0.02% of Apple, and Sundar Pichai owns 0.001% of Google. Meanwhile, George Kurtz has a 5% stake in his company, making him CrowdStrike’s largest shareholder.
4. Safra Catz
Company: Oracle (ORCL)
Total 2023 Salary: $5,250,680
Net Worth: $2 billion
With 57% of businesses worldwide moving their workloads to the cloud, cloud computing organizations like Oracle Corporation are at the forefront of this transition. Leading the said global giant in software and cloud computing is Safra Catz.
Her significantly high executive compensation of $138 million in 2022 raised both support and criticism, mainly from shareholders. However, it dropped by 96.2% the following year.
Look at the photo below to see how her 2023 salary was divided according to the principal components:
5. Mark Anderson
Company: Alteryx (AYX)
Total 2022 Salary: $57,191,521
Net Worth: $109 million
In 2020, Mark Anderson became the CEO of Alteryx, a data science and analytics company. Under his leadership, Alteryx provided more and better automation solutions that helped organizations gain insights and make data-based decisions.
As CEO, Anderson received $57.2 million in executive pay in 2022. Check out how this amount was divided below:
Like other CEOs, much of his compensation is tied to equity. Almost 98% of Mark Anderson’s total pay goes to stock awards alone. His base pay and bonuses did not even reach a million each.
How his executive compensation was divided plays a role in the state of his estimated value as a CEO. A big part of his income goes to stocks since any rise in his equity over time can significantly increase his net worth. However, the value still depends on the company’s performance and stock market trends.
6. Satya Nadella
Company: Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
Total 2023 Salary: $48,512,537
Net Worth: $968 million
Satya Nadella is an influential figure in business and technology as the CEO of Microsoft Corporation. He took over the role in February 2014.
Under his supervision, the company experienced an effective transformation. Find out how Satya Nadella secured Microsoft’s spot in modern technology in the following video:
With his success and tenure as Microsoft’s CEO, it is no wonder that he is rewarded generously. From a mere $18.3 million in 2015, there has been a 165.179% increase in his salary.
Check out the photo below to see the full rundown of Nadella’s executive compensation in 2023:
Equity has been the most significant component of Satya Nadella’s salary since becoming CEO. In his first year in the position (2014), 95% of his compensation was given as stock awards—equivalent to $79.8 million.
With 781,015 shares, Nadella currently holds a 0.0105% stake in Microsoft. This makes him one of the top 3 insider stockholders of the company, along with the former founder and the previous CEO—Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.
7. Jeff Lawson
Company: Twilio Inc. (TWLO)
Total 2023 Salary: $76,859
Net Worth: $1 billion
In 2008, Jeff Lawson launched Twilio with Evan Cooke and John Wolthuis. Twilio is a platform that allows the integration of communication features into applications.
Under Lawson’s leadership, Twilio offered a wide range of communication channels. The company also established more data centers worldwide to expand its customer base. Jeff Lawson transformed Twilio from a simple platform to a $9.75 billion market cap company.
In 2022, he received nearly $50 million in executive compensation. However, it dropped to only $76,859 in 2023. Below is a rundown on how it was split:
8. Charles Robbins
Company: Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO)
Total 2023 Salary: $31,843,708
Net Worth: $148 million
Charles Robbins is the CEO of the globally renowned technology company Cisco Systems. He joined Cisco in 1997. After two decades, he assumed the role of CEO in July 2015, succeeding John Chambers.
Robbins received $31.8 million as compensation in 2023. Check out the photo below to see a clear presentation of his salary package:
In the tech industry, it is becoming a pattern for executives to have a modest base salary to make way for equity. Robbins is another addition to make this notion a norm.
His 2023 compensation includes 75.7% equity, which is equivalent to $24 million worth of stock awards. Almost 85% of his 2022 pay also went to equity. This shows Robbins’ interest in Cisco’s long-term success—especially in increasing shareholder value and improving company performance.
9. Mark Zuckerberg
Company: Meta Platforms, Inc. (META)
Total 2023 Salary: $24,399,968
Net Worth: $184.2 billion
Despite losing around 15 million users since 2017, Facebook remains one of the world’s top social media sites. This is a testament to the enduring influence of Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and CEO of the platform’s parent company, Meta.
Contrary to popular belief, Zuckerberg only earns around $24.4 million—even though he is one of the tech CEOs with the highest net worth ($184.2 billion). Here’s a rundown of his 2023 compensation:
Source: Mark Zuckerberg.png
Alt tag: Breakdown of Zuckerberg’s 2023 Compensation
Mark Zuckerberg has received a $1 base pay since 2013. The rest of his earnings cover compensation-like awards. This base pay-to-bonus ratio has been consistent for ten years now.
While his executive compensation may not include any equity, he remains one of the company’s major shareholders—having 366.87 million shares of Meta shares. With his CEO position and stakes, Zuckerberg holds the most voting power in the company’s boardroom.
| ❓ Did You Know? During its rebranding in 2021, Meta’s stock price decreased by over 70%. It went from $345 to $101. Initially, investors were worried about the name change, but it was pushed through as $36 billion was already allocated for the project. However, it is also possible that the price drop was coincidental, and the rebranding is not to blame. |
10. Daniel Schulman
Company: PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL)
Total 2023 Salary: $22,138,954
Net Worth: $218 million
Daniel Schulman is the CEO of the world’s leading fintech company, PayPal. He took on the top executive role in 2014 and has been making significant changes in the company ever since.
PayPal employees’ healthcare costs decreased by up to 60% under Schulman’s values-based leadership. He also developed the platform’s digital capabilities for global users. Schulman even acquired Braintree and Venmo, other fintech companies. Under his supervision, PayPal was valued at $73.3 billion at the time of writing.
In 2023, Daniel Schulman received an annual compensation worth $22 million. Look at how his salary is divided into four major components:
Since 2018, equity has covered around 90% of Schulman’s executive pay. Despite millions of his annual salary going to stocks, he still does not hold a significant stake in the company.
Currently, the one with the largest PayPal shares is the Vanguard Group, with 8.4%. No individual stockholder has owned a majority stake—not even Schulman himself.
However, the shares might not matter anymore since, in February 2023, PayPal announced that Daniel Schulman would step down from the CEO position at the end of 2023. Nevertheless, he still plans to continue working as part of the board of directors.
11. Jen-Hsun Huang
Company: NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)
Total 2024 Salary: $34,167,902
Net Worth: $108.2 billion
In 1993, three American computer scientists started a company that handles graphic processing units (GPUs). They were Jen-Hsun Huang, Curtis Priem, and Christopher Malachowsky. Huang has been named CEO since the launch.
How Jen-Hsun Huang’s salary was divided is known to change yearly. Here’s how his 2023 salary was broken down:
Since 2014, most of Huang’s pay has gone to stock awards. It is no wonder that he holds 86.7 million shares and owns over 3.5% of NVIDIA.
12. Anthony Wood
Company: Roku, Inc. (ROKU)
Total 2023 Salary: $20,218,958
Net Worth: $1.7 billion
By 2030, the number of connected devices is expected to reach 29.4 billion. Such growth highlights the significance of innovations from companies like Roku.
Launched by Anthony Wood in October 2002, Roku specializes in designing and manufacturing entertainment products such as smart TVs, streaming devices, and home accessories.
As CEO, Wood initiated the Roku streaming platform—a cost-effective way for consumers to stream on their televisions. Roku also branched out to create original content when the Roku Channel started. This gave users the chance to access ad-supported but free streaming content.
The billion-worth CEO received almost $20.2 million in 2023, and here’s how it was divided:
13. Amanpal Bhutani
Company: GoDaddy Inc. (GDDY)
Total 2023 Salary: $15,877,217
Net Worth: $93.1 million
Amanpal Bhutani took the CEO position at GoDaddy in September 2019, succeeding Scott Wagner.
Under his leadership, GoDaddy expanded to cater to small businesses and individuals. The company offered web hosting, domain registration, site building, and e-commerce solutions.
Check out how his $15.9 million salary in 2023 is categorized:
14. Andrew Wilson
Company: Electronic Arts Inc. (EA)
Total 2024 Salary: $25,643,093
Net Worth: $173 million
The gaming industry is a sector that displays steady growth, with its market expected to reach $256.97 billion by 2025. This trend is driven by key figures like Andrew Wilson, who has been steering Electronic Arts (EA) as its CEO since September 2013.
Wilson focused on giving gamers a high-quality experience with new technology. He also directed EA to adopt live-service gaming models, which paved the way for “Apex Legends,” “The Sims 4,” and more.
Take a closer look at how Wilson’s salary as a top tech CEO is divided:
15. Enrique Lores
Company: HP Inc. (HPQ)
Total 2023 Salary: $19,458,431
Net Worth: $65.9 million
Enrique Lores is the CEO of HP, a company specializing in personal computing and printing solutions. He assumed the role of CEO in November 2019, succeeding Dion Weisler. Lores started as an HP engineering intern in 1989 and worked his way up the corporate ladder.
As HP’s CEO, Lores focused on innovation, sustainability, and diversity. He also valued strengthening employees and understanding customers. All these and more are what puts HP at the front line.
16. Andrew Jassy
Company: Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)
Total 2023 Salary: $1,357,764
Net Worth: $492 million
Amazon statistics for 2022 reveal that the company is worth over $1.105 trillion. This is a testament to the leadership of Andrew Jassy, who became CEO in 2021 after succeeding Jeff Bezos. He previously spent 24 years as the CEO of Amazon Web Services.
At AWS, Jassy launched vital services and platforms like Amazon EC2, Amazon S3, and AWS Lambda. In his present role, he is managing the entire Amazon business. This includes the e-commerce side, AWS, Amazon Prime, and more.
Despite the numerous businesses to oversee, Andrew Jassy only received almost $1.4 million as salary for 2023. Check out how it was categorized in the photo below:
17. Arvind Krishna
Company: International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)
Total 2023 Salary: $20,375,243
Net Worth: $62.7 million
Arvind Krishna is an Indian-American engineer who joined IBM in 1990. He became the chairman and CEO of the company in 2020. Krishna aimed to expand the company’s presence and strengthen its position in the global market.
He steered IBM to focus on hybrid cloud computing and AI. His strategy was effective as the company generated a total revenue of $60.5 billion for fiscal year 2022—12% more than the preceding year.
As CEO, Arvind Krishna secured $20.4 million as an annual salary in 2023. Check out how it was allocated:
Similar to other tech CEOs, equity takes up the biggest portion of Krishna’s salary. Since he started in 2020, 50-70% of his executive compensation has gone to stocks.
Even though he’s relatively new to the position, Krishna is already one of IBM’s top individual shareholders. He owns 307,431 shares, equivalent to 0.033% of the company’s outstanding shares.
18. Patrick Gelsinger
Company: Intel Corporation (INTC)
Total 2023 Salary: $16,743,400
Net Worth: $48.4 million
In 1979, the 18-year-old Patrick Gelsinger joined Intel as an engineer. He significantly contributed to the company, especially in creating the 80386 microprocessor. He spent 30 years at Intel before transferring to EMC Corporation as President and COO.
Pat Gelsinger rejoined Intel in 2021 when he was appointed the company’s new CEO after Bob Swan. For his return, he exclaimed his commitment to reclaim Intel’s position as a leader in chip manufacturing.
Here’s how Gelsinger’s $16.7 million executive compensation is allocated:
| ❓ Did You Know? At the beginning of 2023, Intel announced that executives would take pay cuts to save costs. Gelsinger will take a 25% pay cut on base salary, while other board members will take 5-15%. However, Intel clarified that this pay cut is only temporary. By the third or fourth quarter of 2023, all salaries will return to the pre-cut levels. |
19. Shantanu Narayen
Company: Adobe, Inc. (ADBE)
Total 2023 Salary: $44,932,578
Net Worth: $361 million
Shantanu Narayen works as the CEO of the famous software company, Adobe Inc. The Indian-American executive played a crucial role in developing and transforming the company into a global leader.
Adobe recorded a $24.31 billion market cap in Narayen’s first year as CEO (2007). Over a decade and a half later, the company’s market cap rose to $271.63 billion in 2023.
Some people will say that Narayen’s focus on innovation, empowerment, and the customer experience can be one of the factors behind Adobe’s success. Take a look at how the 2023 salary of this impressive CEO was split:
20. Michael Dell
Company: Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL)
Total 2024 Salary: $3,030,405
Net Worth: $94.9 billion
Michael Dell is the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, which specializes in computers, storage, and IT services. He went from building computers in his college dorm room to owning a global tech powerhouse.
With Dell’s craftsmanship and strategies as CEO, Dell Technologies has expanded its product and service offerings to cater to worldwide demand. His company is now valued at $52.07 billion.
Below is a rundown of how Michael Dell’s salary was divided based on components in 2024:
21. Marc Benioff
Company: Salesforce, Inc. (CRM)
Total 2024 Salary: $39,642,173
Net Worth: $9.2 billion
In February 1999, Marc Benioff launched Salesforce with Parker Harris, Dave Mellenhoff, and Frank Dominguez. Benioff was later named CEO of the software company in 2001.
Two decades after Salesforce started, Benioff transformed it into one of today’s top SaaS companies. The cloud-based platform is now worth $255.81 billion.
Check out the photo below to see how Benioff’s 2024 salary was divided:
22. Cristiano Amon
Company: QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM)
Total 2023 Salary: $23,490,335
Net Worth: $51.8 million
Cristiano Amon is the CEO of Qualcomm, a leading semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company. As CEO, he led Qualcomm to develop 5G networks.
In 2022, Amon earned $4.8 million—potentially all in cash. No amount was allocated for equity since he had already received $16 million worth of stock awards in 2021.
His 2023 compensation is quite the opposite, where 89.9% of it went to equity. Here’s a clearer view of how his 2023 salary was allocated:
23. Sasan K. Goodarzi
Company: Intuit Inc. (INTU)
Total 2023 Salary: $27,305,429
Net Worth: $207 million
Sasan Goodarzi was the CEO of Intuit, a top American financial software company. He assumed this role in January 2019, succeeding the company’s co-founder, Brad Smith.
Intuit incorporated AI and machine learning to enhance its products and services under Goodarzi’s supervision. With his customer-centric strategies and leadership, the company’s net income went from $1.33 billion in 2018 to $2.38 billion in 2023.
24. Elon Mus
Company: Tesla, Inc. (TSLA)
Total 2023 Salary: $0
Net Worth: $241.8 billion
Elon Musk is the co-founder and CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and Neuralink. He is an entrepreneur known for his work in the technology and space exploration industries.
Among his contributions in both fields, Musk is widely recognized for his pioneering role in electric vehicles through Tesla. He played a key role in popularizing electric cars with the Model S, Model 3, and more—pushing the world’s transition to sustainable transportation.
As a CEO, he is known as strategic, innovative, and a risk-taker. These attributes made him one of the most influential CEOs. His influence and wealth landed him second in Forbes’ “The Richest People in the World.”
Apparently, Musk has been working for Tesla for free for years now. He hasn’t been taking a salary since 2018 because of his unique pay structure, which is completely tied to the company’s performance.
Instead of a regular paycheck, Musk’s compensation depends on Tesla hitting certain market and operational goals. When the milestones are achieved, he earns chunks of stock options that he can buy at a fixed price. This setup ties his earnings with Tesla’s long-term success, which also gives him a strong incentive to keep driving the company’s growth.
| ❓ Did You Know? An average American employee has to work for 3 million years to match Musk’s wealth, given that a resident in the US earns $77,463 per year. This highlights the drastic wealth disparity between Elon Musk and the average American worker. |
25. Dara Khosrowshahi
Company: Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER)
Total 2023 Salary: $24,248,208
Net Worth: $249 million
Dara Khosrowshahi is the CEO of Uber Technologies. He took over the role in August 2017. Before joining Uber, he served as the CEO of the travel company Expedia Group for 12 years, since 2005.
Khosrowshahi expanded Uber’s services beyond ride-sharing. He added food delivery, cargo transportation, and more. These new segments were a huge success and dominated the global market.
In 2020, Uber Eats delivered more than $30.2 billion worth of meals. Meanwhile, Uber Freight generated $290 million in the third quarter of that same year. With the addition of new services, the market cap of the entire Uber company grew to $89.95 billion by 2020—a 76.19% increase compared to the previous year.
Here’s how the Uber CEO was compensated for 2023:
26. Tobias Lütke
Company: Shopify Inc. (SHOP)
Total 2022 Salary: $20,000,156
Net Worth: $6.7 billion
Tobias Lütke is the CEO of the third-largest e-commerce platform in the US, Shopify. He co-founded the company along with Scott Lake and Daniel Weinand.
As a computer programmer, Lütke built the platform himself in an attempt to start a personal online store selling snowboard equipment. It was then launched as Shopify in 2006.
To expand Shopify’s participation in e-commerce, the company launched an API in 2019 to allow online stores to sell apps on Apple’s App Store. In the following year, they released a free Shopify mobile app.
In 2022, Lütke received $20 million as executive compensation—with only $1 as cash and the rest as equity. He currently owns about 6% of the company. Check out how Lütke’s 2022 executive compensation was divided through the photo below:
27. Eric Yuan
Company: Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (ZM)
Total 2024 Salary: $28,082,133
Net Worth: $4.4 billion
Eric Yuan has been the former vice president of engineering at Webex since 1997. After Cisco bought the business in 2007, Yuan still kept his position. He left Cisco after 4 years to launch the popular video conferencing platform, Zoom.
At present, Yuan is the CEO and founder of Zoom, which was named one of the fastest-growing apps during the COVID-19 pandemic. It displayed 2900% growth from 2020 to 2021.
Here’s how much Eric Yuan gets annually for managing a thriving company:
Yuan’s base pay remained at around $300,00 from 2019 to 2022. His 2022 salary did not include any equity. However, his recent compensation package highlights the significant value he places on equity.
In 2024, nearly 94% of his total compensation was in the form of stock awards, following a similar trend from the previous year when 97.8% of his income was also equity-based. The stock awards he received in 2023 was worth $74.3 million. This strengthened his place as one of Zoom’s top shareholders. Currently, Yuan holds 22% of the company.
| ❓ Did You Know? Zoom has benefited a lot from the pandemic. As the world recovers from it, the company is affected negatively. In February 2023, Zoom announced that they would lay off 1,300 employees. |
28. Julie Sweet
Company: Accenture plc (ACN)
Total 2023 Salary: $31,550,906
Net Worth: $72.9 million
Julie Sweet is a prominent figure in the business and technology industries. She is the current CEO of Accenture, a professional services company that provides IT services and consulting.
Sweet was listed as one of the most powerful women in the US for 2020-2021. She was also part of Forbes’ Power Women for 2022.
While the gender pay gap remains a significant issue in the tech industry, Julie Sweet defied the trend by earning $31.6 million in 2023. Here’s a breakdown of how her compensation was structured:
29. Raghu Raghuram
Company: VMware, Inc. (VMW)
Total 2023 Salary: $13,209,399
Net Worth: $79.7 million
Raghu Raghuram joined the virtualization and cloud computing company, VMware, in 2003. After being the Director of Product Management, he climbed the ranks and took over the CEO role in May 2021.
The company has shown steady 13.5% growth since Raghuram was named CEO. VMware even generated $13 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2023.
Check out how Raghuram’s $13.2 million executive salary is split into four components:
30. Hock E. Tan
Company: Broadcom Inc. (AVGO)
Total 2023 Salary: $161,826,161
Net Worth: $124 million
Hock E. Tan is a prominent figure in the tech industry for leading Broadcom, a global company specializing in semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions.
Under Tan’s leadership, Broadcom has been involved in various high-profile acquisitions. He also played a key role in the acquisition of Avago Technologies. Furthermore, Tan has a track record of managing large-scale technology companies. He expanded Broadcom’s presence in the semiconductor market.
Below is an overview of how Tan’s 2023 salary is split:
31. Lisa Su
Company: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD)
Total 2023 Salary: $30,348,281
Net Worth: $1 billion
Lisa Su is the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a semiconductor company that develops computer processors. She was the Vice President of IBM and Freescale Semiconductor in her earlier careers.
Su took over the top executive role at AMD in 2014. Under her supervision, AMD’s revenue experienced steady growth—from $4 billion in 2015 to $22 billion in the first half of 2023.
She was paid $30.3 million in 2023, and below is a breakdown of how it was allocated:
| ❓ Did You Know? More women are now taking on top executive roles. In the Fortune 500 companies, there are 53 female CEOs. Among all the women executives on the list, Lisa Su has the highest earnings. However, the difference between men and women is still discernible. The highest-earning male executive received $292.6 million in 2021. Meanwhile, Lisa Su only got $29.5 million—a 163.365% difference. |
32. Matthew Prince
Company: Cloudflare, Inc. (NET)
Total 2023 Salary: $20,515,350
Net Worth: $2.9 billion
In 2009, Matthew Prince established Cloudflare with Lee Holloway and Michelle Zatlyn. With his experience as the current co-founder and chairman of Unspam Technologies, Prince naturally took over the role of Cloudflare’s CEO.
Cloudflare is now known as a prominent internet security and infrastructure company. As CEO, Prince led Cloudflare to provide content delivery, DDoS protection, internet security, and more to over 27 million websites worldwide.
Even though he’s the top executive of a company that earned $250 million in the last quarter of 2022, Matthew Prince only received around $600,000 as executive compensation.
However, his salary shot up by 3320.76% in 2023, bringing his total compensation to $20.5 million. The significant increase was primarily due to the $19 million worth of stock awards. Here’s a breakdown of Matthew Prince’s 2023 pay:
33. Brian Chesky
Company: Airbnb, Inc. (ABNB)
Total 2023 Salary: $295,125
Net Worth: $7.7 billion
Brian Chesky is the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, an online platform for homestay services. He started the company with Nathan Blecharczyk and Joe Gebbia in 2008.
What started as a simple apartment for rent with three air mattresses became a company that can generate revenue of up to $9.92 billion.
As CEO, Chesky received $295,125 as a salary in 2023. Having only a dollar as base pay, here’s how it was divided:
Chesky has been receiving compensation of less than a million since 2021. However, in 2020, his executive salary went up to $120 million. 99.8% of it went to stocks, which is a huge addition to his 76.4 million shares. As of August 2024, Chesky holds 33.4% of ownership and 30.6% of voting power.
| 🎉 Fun Fact Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Larry Page, and Brian Chesky—why do these CEOs prefer getting $1 salaries? Clue: In most cases, the answer is not goodwill. Before, CEOs got $1 salaries to cut costs to make way for resources. Now, executives choose to receive $1 pay for practical reasons. Lower salaries mean lower income tax. If a CEO lists $1 as their base pay, this reduces the income tax they owe to the government. Taking $1 as a salary can let CEOs take more compensation through other components like equity. One-dollar salary is also a good PR strategy to improve the image of the CEO among the public and investors. |
34. Robert Kotick
Company: Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI)
Total 2022 Salary: $178,882
Net Worth: $481 million
Robert “Bobby” Kotick is the CEO of the video game publisher, Activision. He took over the role in 1991. Kotick initiated a merger between Activision and Vivendi Games in 2008, which led to the formation of Activision Blizzard.
Activision Blizzard owns some of the world’s most popular games—like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch. With such high-grossing titles, it is no wonder that Activision Blizzard is considered a dominant force in the gaming market. The company even garnered $2.21 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2023.
Bobby Kotick received only $178,882 as his 2022 salary. Here’s how it was split:
In 2020, Kotick received $155 million as executive compensation, with $1.5 million as his base pay and the rest as equity. The notable amount placed him directly after business mogul and multibillionaire Elon Musk.
However, Kotick decided to cut his salary in the following year as the company faced criticism for numerous sexual harassment allegations. There were no statements on when the pay cut will last, but Kotick said he is not asking for any bonuses or equity.
35. David Baszucki
Company: Roblox Corporation (RBLX)
Total 2023 Salary: $2,136,740
Net Worth: $2.8 billion
David Baszucki is the co-founder and CEO of Roblox. He successfully launched the online gaming platform with Erik Cassel in 2006.
Baszucki’s salary has always fluctuated annually. From $6.8 million in 2020, it grew exponentially to $232.8 million in the following year. It dropped again to $1.1 million in 2022 and rose again by 87.15% in 2023.
Here’s how his 2023 pay was divided into major components:
His 2021 executive pay was split as base pay of $136,364 and equity worth $232 million. In contrast, 100% of his 2022 salary went to compensation-like awards.
The substantial amount of equity that David Baszucki got from his 2021 pay contributed to his Roblox shares. He now owns 2.3% of the company. However, Anthony Lee of Altos Ventures still holds the majority of the company, with 15.3% stake.
36. Adam Foroughi
Company: AppLovin Corporation (APP)
Total 2023 Salary: $83,361,678
Net Worth: $2.7 billion
Adam Foroughi is the CEO of the popular mobile advertising company, Applovin. Together with John Krystynak and Andrew Kara, they started a mobile tech company that operated in stealth mode from 2012 to 2014.
Applovin started without outside funding. Under Foroughi’s leadership, the company generated annual revenue of $2.817 billion in 2022.
Despite being the head of a multi-billion earning company, Foroughi only got $104,355 as salary in 2022. It was lower than the company’s median employee pay of $139,502.
However, his executive compensation blew up to almost $83.4 million in 2023 as he acquired $82 million worth of equity. Here’s a quick beakdown of Adam Foroughi’s 2023 salary:
Even though no amount of his salary is allocated towards equity, Foroughi still holds a notable portion of shares in the company. At the time of writing, he owns 11.4% of Applovin.
37. William McDermott
Company: ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW)
Total 2023 Salary: $37,606,244
Net Worth: $125 million
The 62-year-old William “Bill” McDermott is the chairman and CEO of the software company ServiceNow. He was the former CEO of SAP and a current board member of Zoom and Fisker, Inc.
McDermott is recognized for his emphasis on innovation, customer-centric strategies, and driving digital transformation within organizations. Under his leadership, ServiceNow’s market cap grew from $53.48 billion in 2019 to $144.86 billion in 2023.
He received $37.6 million as executive compensation in 2023, and it was divided according to the following:
38. Bill Ready
Company: Pinterest, Inc. (PINS)
Total 2023 Salary: $522,667
Net Worth: $51.1 million
Bill Ready is a well-known figure in the technology and payments industries. He was the Executive Vice President and COO at PayPal, where he shaped strategies and oversaw the operations. Ready then later joined Pinterest in June 2022.
As a top executive, Bill Ready is known for his strategic vision and hands-on approach. His ability to navigate the complexities of the tech industry has been proven. He also has a reputation for fostering innovation in his teams.
Ready earned an astounding $122.7 million in 2022. 82.2% of it was awarded as stocks. His salary decreased by 99.57% in the following year, and here’s how it was split:
39. Michael Miebach
Company: Mastercard Incorporated (MA)
Total 2023 Salary: $25,746,498
Net Worth: $52.9 million
Michael Miebach is the CEO of one of the world’s leading payment technology companies: MasterCard. He first joined the company in 2010 as the Executive Vice President. He was in charge of the company’s global products and solutions.
Miebach is committed to reaching the company’s goal of connecting and empowering individuals. He also aims to position Mastercard as a leader in the payments industry.
From a mere $5 million in 2019, Miebach’s salary increased by 362.2% in 2023—reaching $25.7 million. Take a look at the photo below to see how his 2023 pay was divided:
40. Jamie Iannone
Company: eBay Inc. (EBAY)
Total 2023 Salary: $21,560,669
Net Worth: $40.4 million
Jamie Iannone is the CEO of eBay, one of the world’s largest online marketplaces. Before assuming the CEO role at eBay, Iannone took various executive positions in e-commerce companies like Barnes & Noble and Walmart.
As the CEO, Iannone utilized technological advancement and customer-centric approaches to ensure eBay’s success. He focused on enhancing the user experience and expanding the platform’s range of products or services.
Iannone received nearly $17 million as executive compensation in 2022. It rose by 27.2% in the following year. Check out the photo below for a quick rundown:
Factors Behind a Tech CEO’s Pay
The salary of an executive is tied to the workers’ compensation. In a study by the social scientist Thomas Greckhamer, he listed the different factors that influence the salary of a CEO and their workers.
Some of these elements are:
- Country’s Level of Development
A country’s economic development plays a vital role in its level of income. Countries with robust work markets usually have lower income differences. This leads to both CEOs and employees making more income.
- Status of the Equity Market
Equity markets change ownership patterns. When ownership is distributed among multiple shareholders, the influence of an individual is reduced. More people means more voices on board. The lack of one dominant power among the shareholders can allow CEOs to take more compensation for themselves.
- Power of Welfare Institutions
Countries with strong welfare institutions result in lower income inequality. With regulations put in place, wealth can be redistributed to support workers. Such a revamp can affect CEO pay.
- Employment Market Forces
Labor market forces have a powerful impact on income. An industry’s high demand for certain skills can increase executive pay. Most companies searching for a particular level of excellence and results are willing to pay a lot.
On the other hand, a surplus in skills or workers can reduce CEO compensation and stunt wage growth for employees.
- Power Distance
Power distance is the extent to which society accepts inequality and hierarchical authority. This factor can greatly influence CEO and worker pay. A country or culture that accepts high levels of inequality and hierarchical authority (meaning high power distance) can lead to higher CEO compensation and lower worker pay.
CEOs in countries with weak employment legislation or high power distances usually get higher salaries. 90% of the tech CEOs listed above are based in the US, further proving the validity of such a notion.
In the power distance index, the US scored 40, which is considered moderately low. However, regarding worker rights, America was listed as one of the worst due to the lack of universal healthcare, severance pay, and paid vacations.
Conclusion
CEOs of top tech companies undeniably earn more than those in other industries. The notable difference highlights how the world is shifting its focus to innovation.
Understanding how much do CEOs make can help in making clear, responsible, and smart decisions in businesses. It also adds to the bigger discussion of how companies are run and the impact that leaders have on the future of the tech industry.
FAQs on Top Tech CEO Salaries
Who is the youngest tech CEO in the world in 2023?
The youngest CEO of the tech industry is Advait Thakur. In 2019, at 15 years old, Advait started Apex Infosys India—a global tech company focusing on IoT services and products. As of 2023, the 20-year-old tech genius has a net worth of $662,000 with a company that earns $5.8 million in revenue.
Who is the highest-paid IT CEO in India?
Thierry Delaporte is the highest-paid tech CEO in India. He is a French businessman and the CEO of Wipro, a company that offers tech services and consulting. Delaporte was paid Rs 82.4 crore (equivalent to almost $10 million USD) for the fiscal year 2023.
Which country pays the highest salary for computer science?
Switzerland is the country that offers the highest salary to software engineers. They pay software engineers an average annual compensation of $135,594. Entry-level software engineers are paid around $105,800 a year.
By Harsha Kiran
Harsha Kiran is the founder and innovator of Techjury.net. He started it as a personal passion project in 2019 to share expertise in internet marketing and experiences with gadgets and it soon turned into a full-scale tech blog with specialization in security, privacy, web dev, and cloud computing.