Alphabet Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai outearned his peers in the US media and telecom industries in 2022 after receiving sizable stock awards, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
Pichai received almost $226.0 million in total adjusted compensation in 2022, up from roughly $6.3 million in 2021. Pichai's 2022 compensation comprised $7.9 million in cash pay, including a salary of $2.0 million, and $218.0 million in stock awards.
The parent entity of Google LLC grants its CEO stock awards every three years. Pichai's 2022 stock awards contained two tranches of performance-related stock unit awards with a target value of $63.0 million each, or $126.0 million in total, as well as a restricted stock unit award of $84.0 million. The stock awards recognized Pichai's "strong" CEO performance amid Alphabet's push further into AI through various investments and product rollouts, according to a company filing.
Pichai also emerged as the highest-paid among chief executives of S&P 500 companies.
– Read an analysis of the highest-paid S&P 500 CEOs on S&P Capital IQ Pro.
– Visit Alphabet's compensation page to learn more about the pay details of company directors and executives.
– Know why Live Nation achieved the biggest CEO-to-median employee pay ratio in the US media and telecom sector for 2022.
Stock awards also made Live Nation Entertainment Inc. CEO Michael Rapino the second-highest-paid CEO among the top 10 US media and telecom companies. Rapino's total adjusted 2022 compensation of $139.0 million included $116.7 million in stock awards, $10.3 million in cash compensation and $12.0 million in nonequity incentive plan compensation.
Rapino's 2022 stock grants were tied in part to the renewal of the executive's employment contract for another five years.
Pinterest Inc. CEO William Ready ranked third among the top-paid media and telecom CEOs, receiving $122.9 million in total adjusted pay in 2022, including $100.8 million in option awards, $21.5 million in stock awards and about $500,000 in cash compensation.
Ready received the option awards as a result of his appointment as CEO in late June 2022. He succeeded Pinterest co-founder Benjamin Silbermann, who transitioned to the role of executive chair. Silbermann recently became Pinterest's nonexecutive chair.
Netflix Inc. co-CEOs Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos ranked as the fifth- and sixth-highest-paid media and telecom CEOs in 2022. Option awards drove year-over-year gains in total compensation for both Netflix executives. Hastings' total pay increased 25.1% year over year to $51.1 million, while Sarandos' total compensation climbed 31.6% to $50.3 million. Hastings stepped down as co-CEO to become Netflix's executive chairman in January 2023.
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. CEO David Zaslav, who ranked as the second-highest-paid media and telecom CEO in 2021, fell to ninth place in 2022 due to a decline in option awards. Zaslav's total adjusted pay plunged 84.1% year over year to $39.3 million, the largest percentage drop among the top 10. Zaslav's total pay in 2022 included $1.4 million in option awards, down from $202.9 million in 2021.