David Zaslav, the CEO of Discovery Inc., was the highest paid executive in America in 2018, with compensation of $129.4 million
David Zaslav, the CEO of Discovery Inc., is the highest paid executive in America, according to a new report.
Discovery, which operates the television channel, compensated Zaslav with a $129.4 million package last year – the majority of which was paid in stock, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.
It was a significant year-on-year pay bump, compared to the $42.2 million in compensation he received in 2017. Discovery shareholders saw a 10.5 percent return on their investment last year.
Zaslov wasn't alone: A majority of CEOs running S&P 500 companies received raises of 5 percent or more last year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The median pay for the CEOs of America's largest companies was $12.4 million in 2018 – a new high following the economic downturn that started in 2008, according to the Journal.
Stephen F. Angel, of Linde, an industrial gas and engineering company, was the nation's second-highest compensated CEO, with $66.1 million including a majority of non-cash compensation in 2018 - roughly three times his 2017 pay.
Linde shareholders saw a 3.1 percent return on their investment in 2018.
Robert A. Iger, of Disney, ranked third, with $65.6 million in compensation – a majority of which was stock pay.
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Stephen F. Angel (left), of Linde, an industrial gas and engineering company, was the nation's second-highest compensated CEO, with $66.1 million including a majority of non-cash compensation in 2018. Robert A. Iger (right), of Disney, ranked third, with $65.6 million in compensation – a majority of which was stock pay.
Richard B. Handler (left), of Jeffries Financial, came in fourth place on the list of highest-paid CEOs, with $44.7 million in compensation last year – more than double his 2017 pay of $21.8 million. Stephen P. MacMillan (right), of Hologic, a diagnostic and medical imaging company. He made $42 million in 2018 – up 275 percent from the $11.2 million in compensation he received in 2017
It represented an 80.9 percent increase compared to his 2017 pay of $36.3 million.
Disney shareholders saw a 20.4 percent return last year.
Richard B. Handler, of Jeffries Financial, came in fourth place, with $44.7 million – more than double his 2017 pay of $21.8 million. The vast majority of his compensation the past two years has been stock pay. Investors saw a negative return, losing 14.9 percent in 2018.
Rounding out the top five is Stephen P. MacMillan, of Hologic, a diagnostic and medical imaging company. He made $42 million in 2018 – up 275 percent from the $11.2 million in compensation he received in 2017. The majority of his compensation was stock pay.
Shareholders saw an 11.7 percent return on their investment last year.
At the other end of the spectrum, Larry Page of Alphabet (Google's parent company) and Jack Dorsey, of Twitter, were tied for the dubious honor of being the lowest paid CEOs in America.
