The 16 highest paid CEOs in Charlotte

Rising stock prices over the past decade gave an additional boost to the overall compensation of our city’s public company executives. Base salaries for Charlotte CEOs all tend to be about the same: between $800,000 and $1 million in cash. Cash bonuses are relatively rare.

The real money — at least this year — comes through the tens of thousands of shares companies award their leaders. These stock awards took executive pay to as high as $42 million for LendingTree CEO Doug Lebda.

While equities got pounded in 2018 — the S&P 500 was down 6%, the biggest loss since the financial crisis — most executives get paid stock awards that vest over time. While nearly every Charlotte company’s stock was down in 2018, in most cases they’re up significantly over the past few years combined.

Axios Charlotte dug through securities filings to find the highest paid CEOs in Charlotte. This list only includes the CEOs of public companies, which are required to disclose executive pay. Private companies may compensate their leaders at these levels or higher, but they don’t share salary data.

Total pay figures include salary, bonus, stock awards, retirement contributions, perks, option awards and other forms of deferred compensation. The figures are for the full year 2018, disclosed in early 2019.

Here are the 16 Charlotte CEOs who made at least $5 million.

(1) Doug Lebda: $42,318,238

Company: LendingTree
Base salary: $750,000
Stock awards: $27,569,894
2018 stock performance: -36%

(2) Brian Moynihan: $22,754,510

Company: Bank of America
Base salary: $1,500,000
Stock awards: $20,552,088
2018 stock performance: -17%

(3) John J. Ferriola: $15,559,469

Company: Nucor
Base salary: $1,400,000
Stock awards: $7,087,989
2018 stock performance: -19%

(4) Eric Steigerwalt: $15,537,371

Company: Brighthouse Financial
Base salary: $900,000
Stock awards: $10,635,968
2018 stock performance: -46%

(5) Marvin R. Ellison: $14,302,791

Company: Lowe’s Inc.
Base salary: $864,423
Stock awards: $7,643,542
2018 stock performance: Flat

(6) Lynn Good: $13,982,960

Company: Duke Energy
Base salary: $1,350,000
Stock awards: $9,873,135
2018 stock performance: 2%

(7) J. Frank Harrison, III: $11,618,643

Company: Coca-Cola Consolidated
Base salary: $1,123,859
Stock awards: $7,551,200
2018 stock performance: -16%

(8) Edward L. “Ted” Doheny II: $8,934,227

Company: Sealed Air Corp.
Base salary: $1,150,000
Stock awards: $7,725,109
2018 stock performance: -31%

(9) Jeffrey J. Brown: $9,591,566

Company: Ally Financial
Base salary: $1,000,000
Stock awards: $5,550,040
2018 stock performance: -24%

(10) Gary Michel: $8,681,520

Company: JELD-WEN Holding
Base salary: $444,231
Stock awards: $4,967,005
2018 stock performance: -63%

(11) John D. Williams: $7,952,638

Company: Domtar
Base salary: $1,213,800
Stock awards: $3,269,106
2018 stock performance: -30%

(12) David C. Adams: $7,515,425

Company: Curtiss-Wright
Base salary: $961,538
Stock awards: $1,221,036
2018 stock performance: -17%

(13) Luther C. “Luke” Kissam IV: $6,666,394

Company: Albemarle Corp.
Base salary: $1,000,000
Stock awards: $3,579,097
2018 stock performance: -40%

(14) Susan D. DeVore: $6,505,818

Company: Premier Inc.
Base salary: $977,838
Stock awards: $3,520,103
2018 stock performance: 27%

(15) Bruton Smith: $5,717,558

Company: Sonic Automotive and Speedway Motorsports
Base salary: $1,934,921
Stock awards: $1,509,699
2018 stock performance: -27% (Sonic), -15% (Speedway)

(16) Eugene J. Lowe, III: $5,294,522

Company: SPX
Base salary: $845,508
Stock awards: $1,725,579
2018 stock performance: -13%

CEO photos come from the companies’ investor relations page or their press kits.