According to a report by C-Suite Comp, Nikesh Arora, Chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks, is the only Indian-origin Silicon Valley executive to make it to the list of the top ten highest-paid CEOs in the United States.
Interestingly, Pichai and Nadella are not on the list despite their companies’ exceptional performance thanks to AI enhancement.
10 Highest Paid CEOs in the United States
The list presents two matrices: “Total remuneration disclosed” in 2023 and “Remuneration actually paid”. Arora’s total disclosed compensation stood at over $151.4 million in 2023, and he is placed at 10th place on the list with a total actually paid compensation of over $266.4 million.
Arora is an alumnus of Air Force Public School, Delhi and was the chief business officer of Google. After leaving Google in 2014, he headed SoftBank in Japan and since 2018, he has been running Palo Alto Networks, a cybersecurity company.
Topping the list is Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who earned over $1.4 billion in 2023. Palantir Technologies’ Alexander Karp earned over $1.1 billion. Here’s the full list:
| Rank | Name | Business | Compensation |
| 1 | Elon Musk | You’re here | 1.4 billion |
| 2 | Alexander Karp | Palantir Technologies | 1.1 billion |
| 3 | Shank tan | Broadcom | 767.7 million |
| 4 | Brian Armstrong | Global Coinbase | 680.9 million |
| 5 | Safra Catz | Oracle | 304.1 million |
| 6 | Brian Chesky | Airbnb | 303.5 million |
| 7 | Jon Winkelried | TPG | 295.1 million |
| 8 | Jeff Green | Exchange Office | 291.7 million |
| 9 | Adam Foroughi | Applovin | 271.3 million |
| ten | Nikesh Arora | Palo Alto Networks | 266.4 million |
Nikesh Arora earned second place on Wall Street Journal’s 2023 list
Arora earned the second spot on The Wall Street Journal’s 2023 list of the highest-paid CEOs in the United States, with total compensation reaching $151.43 million, mostly from stock options.
The report highlights the strong presence of Indian-origin executives among the top earners, with 17 of them making it to the top 500. Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen – another Indian-origin executive – follows at 11th place with $44.93 million.
Musk and Pichai (also born in India) opted for non-traditional compensation structures in 2023, with Musk receiving no reported compensation and Pichai earning $8.80 million. Meanwhile, Facebook co-founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg brought in $24.40 million.
