Follow U.S. Immigration and U.S. Life: After surveying the income of 2,259 CEOs across the United States, the rating agency GMI released an annual report stating that in 2012, the income of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the U.S. all exceeded $100 million for the first time. Among them, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg became the highest-paid boss in the U.S. in 2012, followed closely by Kinder Morgan founder Richard Kinder.
Zuckerberg had a total income of $2.27 billion in 2012, averaging more than $6 million per day. His base salary was only $503,205, with the majority of his income derived from his 60 million shares of Facebook stock. Kinder's base salary in 2012 was only $1, with no other bonuses. However, he earned $1.1 billion through the sale of restricted stock.
Among the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in 2012, half were company founders. Their total income exceeded $4.7 billion, with the majority coming from stock or stock-related gains.
Greg Ruel, a senior research consultant at GMI, said: “I have never seen such results before. Usually, only a few of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs earn over $100 million, but it has never happened that all 10 individuals earned over $100 million.”