As per a market intelligence agency, Anderson, the Highest-Paid CEO who took over the reins of the Pennsylvania-based company in June 2024, bested famous personalities such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang ($34.17 million), Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella ($79.1 million), Apple CEO Tim Cook ($74.6 million), Disney CEO Bob Iger ($40.6 million), and Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan ($95.8 million).
According to the Equilar 100 list, which tracks CEO compensation for US public companies with revenues of more than $1 billion annually, Anderson was the only executive on the list to break the prized nine-digit mark.
Far more surprising is the fact that lucrative perks and an extremely high earnings level were not the motivating drivers for this incredible compensation. Stock awards were bestowed on nearly every dollar of Anderson’s compensation (99.4%), which represents proof of increasing practice of associating executive reward with long-term shareholder value as well as company performance.
Who is Jim Anderson? CEO of Coherent Since 2024
Anderson’s rise to the top is not an accident. He came into Coherent Corp. in mid-2024 after he left his CEO position at Lattice Semiconductor, where his leadership had a major bearing on the company’s stock performance.
Lattice’s shares dropped 16 percent following his departure from the company, reflecting investors’ fear. Wall Street, however, thought differently, as the company’s stock went up by a record 23% when the news of Anderson’s move was announced to Coherent. The rise suggests that Wall Street believes Anderson will be able to do the same at Coherent that he did at Lattice.
Did Sundar Pichai, Brian Niccol Steal any Spot at Highest-Paid CEOs list?
Interestingly, Google CEO Sundar Pichai is not included in the top 100. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported Pichai’s 2024 compensation in its 2025 Proxy Statement.
Pichai’s overall compensation for 2024 is $10.72 million, a significant decline from his $226 million earnings in 2022. This is largely due to the fact that Pichai did not receive the triennial stock award in the previous reporting period.
With a total of $95.8 million payment in 2024, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol was placed second on the list of the highest-paid CEOs. Like Anderson, Niccol earned over 90% of his compensation as stock-based incentives. Since becoming the CEO in September 2024, Niccol demonstrated that he is able to boost the value of the company.
