Top 10 Highest-Paid CEOs in the World in 2023

Businesses don’t just succeed out of the moon. People make successful businesses through actions. People make decisions, enact policies and manage the capital and human resources at their disposal for the success of the company. These individuals are called the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). Other titles also used include the Chief Executive, President, and Managing Director. Most of the highest-paid CEOs oversee the companies they found. However, others rose through the ranks to get to this coveted position. We’ll tell you the highest-paid CEOs in the world in 2023.

A CEO is the highest-ranking officer in an organization and the success or the failure of the company depends on them. Some of them have to work for long hours to ensure that the company moves forward and in the process, becomes the highest-paid CEO in the world.

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Most of the highest-paid CEOs in the world are in the tech industry. These CEOs have brought innovation and creativity into the bear, in addition to their academic pedigree. Not all the popular CEOs in the world today are academic giants but what typically defines them is that they have the passion, innovation, and willpower to bring a historical invention out of nothing.

I know you are still eager to know who the highest-earning CEO is in 2023. is and you have probably picked some names that have been making the round. Well, you might be right.

Below is the list of the highest-paid CEOs in the world in 2023. Because the list would be too long if we have to list them all, we have limited the list to accommodate only the top 10 highest-earning CEO in 2023.

Top 10 Highest-Paid CEO in the World in 2023, Monthly Earning and Sources of Income

1. Elon Musk

Elon Musk is the highest-paid CEO in the world and also doubles as the richest man in the world in 2022. This business mogul is the founder and CEO of SpaceX, Angel Investor, and Tesla inc.  Raking in over $6.7 billion in annual compensation, Elon Musk is the highest-earning CEO in the world.

In addition, Musk is the founder and co-founder of several other companies. He is the founder of The Boring Company, and the co-founder of Neuralink, PayPal, and OpenA1. More recently, Musk just acquired the American social networking service Twitter on April 25, 2022, for $44 billion.

2. Michael T. Pykosz

Michael T. Pykosz is the Chairman and CEO of Oak Street Health inc., a network of primary care centers for adults on Medicare. The 39 years old business tycoon has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Notre Dame and a JD degree from Harvard Law School.

Mr. Pykosz was previously employed as a Principal by The Boston Consulting Group. Pykosz and two of his colleagues at Boston Consulting Group founded Oak Street Health in 2013. Oak Street Health now has over 20 clinics and more than 750 employees. With a total annual compensation of $568 million, Mike Pykosz is the second highest-earning CEO in the world in 2023.

3. Trevor Bezdek

Trevor Bezdek is a co-founder and co-CEO of GoodRx. The American-born entrepreneur also served as Secretary of the Company since 2015. He previously served as Managing Partner at Tryarc, LLC, LLC. He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in Biological Sciences from Stanford University.

Having identified the need to lower prescription costs in the healthcare system in America, Trevor first created Tryarc, a technology company delivering strategy and implementation services for healthcare and media organizations. The company went on to become one of the largest private IT services in California, doing business with Anthem/Blue Cross, Toyota, and Sony, among others.

Trevor sold the company to NTT in 2007. He co-founded Biowire, a community for biologists and other scientists to share insights on best practices and resources. Trevor’s digital telemedicine platform connects the public to stores with prescriptions they need at lower prices.

Trevor earns over $497.8 million per annum from GoodRx Company, making him the third-highest paid CEO in the world in 2023.

4. Douglas Hirsch

Douglas Hirsch is a founding member and co-CEO of GoodRx. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer at DailyStrength, Inc., a healthcare-focused social network centered on support groups before he co-founded GoodRx

Mr. Hirsch holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Tufts University. He has held senior positions at Facebook, Inc., and Yahoo. Like Trevor, GoodRx pays Mr. Hirsch over $497.8 million annually, making him one of the highest-paid CEOs in the world in 2023.

5. Eric Wu

Eric Wu is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Opendoor, an online real estate company. Before Opendoor, Eric founded Movity.com, a location data analytics company that analyzed neighbourhood’s crime statistics, commute times, real estate prices, and other data for home buyers. Trulia.com acquired Movity.com in 2011 and Eric used the proceeds to establish Opendoor. Eric holds a bachelor of science degree in Economics from the University of Arizona.

With an annual pay of over $388.7 million from OpenDoor, Eric Wu is one of the top-earning CEOs in the world in 2023.

6. Alex Karp

Alexander Caedmon Karp is an American billionaire businessman and the co-founder and CEO of the software firm Palantir Technologies. Karp was born to a Jewish father and an African American mother and was raised in Philadelphia. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College (Haverford, Pennsylvania),  a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Stanford University where he met his business partner, and a Dr. Phil. degree in neoclassical social theory from Goethe University.

Karp successfully invested in startups and stocks after receiving an inheritance from his grandfather. He founded the London-based money management firm, Caedmon Group and later established Palantir Technologies along with Peter Thiel and others in 2004.

Palantir Technologies pays Karp over $369.6 million annually, making him one of the top-earning CEOs in the world in 2023.

7. Geoffrey Price

Geoffrey Price is one of Oak Street Health’s CEOs and founders. He has been a board member of the company since the company was founded in 2012. Prior to co-founding Oak Street Health, Mr. Price was a Project Leader from 2012 until 2013 and a Consultant from 2010 to 2012 at Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Price received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Illinois.

Mr. Price earns over $356.2 million annually at Oak Street Health to claim a spot as one of the highest-paid CEO in the world in 2023.

8. Sundar Pichai 

Pichai Sundararajan, better known as Sundar Pichai is an Indian-American business executive. He is the CEO of Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary, Google. He joined Google in 2004, where he led the product management and innovation efforts for a suite of Google’s client software products, including Google Chrome and Chrome OS, as well as being largely responsible for Google Drive. In addition, he went on to oversee the development of other applications such as Gmail and Google Maps.

He got the position in October 2015 and became a member of the Board of Directors in July 2017. In addition, the CEO was granted a $240 million stock package in 2019, which will vest in 2023. Sundar Pichai’s annual compensation as the CEO of Alphabet and Google is $280.6 million

9. Tim Cook

Timothy Donald Cook is the chief executive officer of Apple Inc. since 2011. Cook previously served as the company’s chief operating officer under its co-founder Steve Jobs. Luke earns over $265 million annually at Apple to emerge as one of the highest-paid CEOs in the world in 2023.

Cook previously served Apple as senior vice president for worldwide operations, and as the executive vice president for worldwide sales and operations. He was made the chief executive in 2011, prior to Job’s death in October of that year.

He has also served on the Board of directors of Nike. inc, and the National Football Foundation.

10. David Zaslav’s

David M. Zaslav is an American media executive and currently serves as the CEO and president of Warner Bros. Discovery. Prior to the establishment of Warner Bros. Discovery, Zasclav previously served as the CEO and president of Discovery, inc until its merger with WarnerMedia in April 2022.

Zaslav spearheaded the transaction between AT&T and Discovery to combine with WarnerMedia and create the combined Warner Bros. Discovery in April 2022.

Discovery inc. paid David over $246 million in compensation in 2021. This completes our list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the world in 2023.