Analysis: Here's how much Charlotte-area CEOs made last year
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The average pay of the executives who lead Charlotte's biggest corporations declined in 2023, mirroring a national trend.
Between the lines: Bank of America's Brian Moynihan is once again the top-paid CEO in the Charlotte region, bringing in $28.6 million in compensation in 2023, mostly in the form of bank stock, down from $30 million in 2022.
Why it matters: Though executive compensation declined across the board in the Charlotte region, local CEOs are still handsomely paid.
- CEO compensation is often tied to a company's stock performance, so the better a company's investor returns, the more for the CEO.
What's happening: Axios analyzed the pay of the CEOs of the 20 largest publicly traded companies in the Charlotte area based on proxy filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- We found that these CEOs saw their pay decline slightly from 2022-2023 — by about 14% on average.
By the numbers: After Moynihan, the next highest-paid CEO in the Charlotte metro was steelmaker Nucor's Leon Topalian, who made $22.5 million in 2023, down from $23 million a year prior.
- Next up: Lynn Good of Duke Energy, whose $20.6 million last year was down slightly from $21.4 million in 2022. Good was the only female CEO among Charlotte's top 10 highest paid.
Fun fact: CEOs of large publicly traded companies enjoy a host of other perks, such as use of the company plane. Coca-Cola Consolidated, for instance, requires its CEO to use the corporate aircraft "whenever reasonable for both business and personal travel."
- "This benefit increases the level of safety and security for Mr. Harrison and his family," the company wrote in its proxy.
The big picture: The CEOs of the largest publicly traded companies in the country saw their pay decline 19.4% from 2022-2023, despite a strong economy and stock market, according to a recent analysis from the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank.
- This bucks a long-term trend: CEO compensation soared 1,085% from 1978-2023 compared with a 24% increase in typical workers' compensation.
- It's not entirely clear why CEO pay on average declined last year, but "it's possible that the shift in stock-related pay away from options played a role," per EPI.
What they're saying: "This is probably the first time I can remember where we saw stock market go up and [CEO] pay go down," Josh Bivens, EPI's chief economist, told the Washington Post.
- It's unclear, Bivens told the paper, whether the trend is a blip or indicative of CEO pay becoming "a little more disciplined."
Beyond the top 10 in the chart above, here's what the rest of Charlotte's top-paid CEOs made in 2023:
- Eric Steigerwalt (Brighthouse Financial) — $10 million
- Lynn Bamford (Curtiss-Wright) — $8.6 million
- Simon Campeon (Dentsply Sirona) — $8.5 million
- Michael Alkire (Premier Inc.) — $7.8 million
- Gene Lowe (SPX) — $7.7 million
- David Smith (Sonic Automotive) — $7.5 million
- Michael Praeger (AvidXchange) — $7.3 million
- William Christensen (Jeld-Wen) — $5.8 million
- Emile Chammas (Sealed Air) — $5.3 million
- John Cato (Cato) — $2.9 million
Zoom in: The CEOs of the area's nonprofit hospitals also are among the highest paid leaders in the city.
Editor's note: We've updated this story with a note about hospital CEO pay.