- The new highest-paid CEO in America is Jim Anderson, a low-profile executive of Pennsylvania-based Coherent, which produces equipment for networks and lasers. The bulk of his salary, the only one among 100 highly paid CEOs to reach nine-figures, was made up of more than $100 million in stock awards.
In the world of highly paid CEOs, consumer technology companies and heavyweights like Tim Cook or Mark Zuckerberg may come to mind. So far this year, though, the highest paid CEO in the U.S. is the leader of a high-tech business few have likely heard of.
Jim Anderson, the head of Saxonburg, Pa.-based company Coherent—which makes equipment and products for networks and laser systems—is the new highest-paid CEO in the U.S. with a total salary of $101,497,009 for 2024, according to an early study by executive intelligence company Equilar.
Although Anderson is entitled to a base salary of $1.06 million, the CEO only joined the company in June 2024, so he received just $81,538 in cash. But that base salary, plus a signing bonus of $500,000, were just a small chunk of Anderson’s overall compensation, as he was awarded more than $100,000,000 in stock awards, according to Coherent’s 2024 proxy statement.
Of the 100 highest paid CEOs, Anderson was the only one whose compensation exceeded nine figures.
The 52-year-old Anderson beat out many other big names, including Brian Niccol of Starbucks, whose $95.8 million compensation fell $5 million short of Anderson’s. Other well-known CEOs whose compensation was valued lower than Anderson’s were Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella ($79.1 million), Apple CEO Tim Cook ($74.6 million), and Disney CEO Bob Iger ($40.6 million).
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Anderson may still be replaced as the highest paid CEO after all proxy statements for 2024 are filed. Equilar’s study took a look at proxy statements through March 31 for companies with $1 billion or more in revenue, for an early snapshot of executive pay.
Anderson, who was previously CEO of Lattice Semiconductor, succeeded retired Coherent CEO Chuck Mattera last year. Before Lattice, Anderson served as senior vice president and general manager of the computing and graphics business group at AMD, according to Coherent’s website. Anderson has an MBA and Master’s in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT as well as a Master’s in electrical engineering from Purdue University, and a Bachelor’s in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.
The median CEO compensation in 2024 was $25.6 million, a 9.5% increase from last year, Equilar’s study found. CEO pay has been on the rise in recent years thanks to big stock payouts, Equilar found.
The median stock award for CEOs skyrocketed 40.5% year-over-year, the study showed, and stock awards made up just under three-quarters of the total median compensation for the CEOs studied by Equilar.
