CEO pay soars 24% in Richmond region
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The CEOs of the Richmond region's largest publicly traded companies saw an average pay bump of more than 20% last year from 2023, Richmond BizSense reports.
Why it matters: Your annual raise, if you even got one, was probably less.
State of play: BizSense just released its annual deep dive into what CEOs at local public companies made last year.
- To create it, the outlet combs through proxy statements to tally not just base salaries, but the whole package: bonuses, stock grants, perks like country club memberships, car allowances — and, yes, private jet trips.
- And last year, those perks really paid off.
By the numbers: On average, the 20 highest-paid CEOs made 24% more than in 2023. And eight of them saw even bigger jumps. Here are the top four:
- 106% — that's how much Dominion Energy CEO Robert Blue's compensation grew year-over-year, putting him at the top of the list for the biggest pay jump. (He went from $6.27 million to $12.9 million.)
- 88% — Hamilton Beach CEO R. Scott Tidey's raise. He went from making just over $1.5 million to a $2.9 million package (he was also promoted from president to CEO last year).
- 45% — Altria head William Gifford Jr.'s latest compensation increase (he went from around $18.5 million in 2023 to $26.8 million last year). He's also far and away the highest-paid CEO of a local company.
- 40% — CarMax CEO William Nash's pay bump. He went from $12.3 million to $17.1 million, making him the second-highest-paid executive on the list.
✈️ Fun fact: As part of his compensation, BizSense noted that Nash logged $132,000 "worth of personal use on the company jet," giving him the priciest personal jet use time of all the CEOs.
- Because nothing says executive success quite like working from the jet.
Keep reading on BizSense for what all 20 CEOs made