The 25 Most Overpaid CEOs — The Fiscal Times

25. Steven H. Temares, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. 25. Steven H. Temares, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.

2014 Compensation: $19,116,040
Overpaid By: $6,814,442*

After joining the company in 1992, Temares was named chief executive of Bed Bath & Beyond in 2003. Shares of the company have fallen about 9 percent over the last five years, and the As You Sow report flags the company for sustainability concerns coupled with high pay, among a number of other issues.

*All figures for CEO compensation and overpayments are from the As You Know report “The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs,” released Feb. 17, 2016.

24. Brian Roberts, Comcast Corporation 24. Brian Roberts, Comcast Corporation

2014 Compensation: $32,961,056
Overpaid By: $18,516,049

Shareholders of the cable and broadband giant have done quite well relative to the market, but Roberts makes As You Know’s “most overpaid” list in part because he receives a base salary above $1.5 million and Comcast employs compensation practices that are causing CEO pay to spiral higher in general.

23. Brenton L. Saunders, Allergan (Formerly Actavis) 23. Brenton L. Saunders, Allergan (Formerly Actavis)

2014 Compensation: $36,613,829
Overpaid By: $20,689,611

Saunders has served as chief executive of Allergan since 2014. Shares are off 1 percent over the past year, and Saunders has faced criticism for his approach to the pharma business, which relies on dealmaking more than inventing new drugs.

22. Stephen Wynn, Wynn Resorts 22. Stephen Wynn, Wynn Resorts

2014 Compensation: $25,322,854
Overpaid By: $8,684,154

Wynn founded this casino company in October 2002 and has served as CEO throughout the company’s history. The stock has trailed the gains of the S&P 500 by about 35 percentage points over the last 10 years after plunging of 47 percent last year and 25 percent in 2014.

21. Brian Cornell, Target 21. Brian Cornell, Target

2014 Compensation: $28,164,024
Overpaid By: $16,194,690

Cornell was named CEO of Target in August 2014 after the company had suffered three quarters of slumping sales. Although Cornell has implemented big changes, including shakeups to the company’s management team, shares fell 4 percent in 2015.

20. Larry Merlo, CVS Health Corporation 20. Larry Merlo, CVS Health Corporation

2014 Compensation: $32,350,733
Overpaid By: $19,261,594

After working for CVS for more than 30 years, Merlo was promoted to chief executive in 2011. Although the company’s earnings were hurt by its decision to halt tobacco sales in 2014, shares are up more than 23 percent since August of that year. Nevertheless, the HIP Investor regression analysis suggests a pay package closer to $13 million would have been more appropriate.

19. Leonard Schleifer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. 19. Leonard Schleifer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.

2014 Compensation: $41,965,424
Overpaid By: $22,973,967

Schleifer founded Regeneron in 1988 and has served as chief executive ever since. Last year the company outperformed all other biotech firms as its share price increased 32 percent. But the HIP Investor regression analysis found that, even with that success, Schleifer got paid $23 million more than he should strictly based on performance.

18. Muhtar Kent, The Coca-Cola Co 18. Muhtar Kent, The Coca-Cola Co

2014 Compensation: $25,224,422
Overpaid By: $12,693,646

Kent was appointed CEO of Coca Cola in 2008, but he hasn’t been able to stave off the declining popularity of soda as consumers grow more health conscious. Coke’s shares have grown only 10 percent over the past three years, compared to a 34 percent jump in Pepsi’s and a 56 percent rise in the S&P food and beverage index.

17. John Strangfeld, Prudential Financial 17. John Strangfeld, Prudential Financial

2014 Compensation: $37,483,092
Overpaid By: $24,189,915

Strangfeld started at Prudential in 1977 and was promoted to chief executive in 2008. The stock has eked out a 2 percentage point gain over the past five years, badly lagging the S&P 500.

16. James Dimon, JPMorgan Chase 16. James Dimon, JPMorgan Chase

2014 Compensation: $27,701,709
Overpaid By: $15,403,974

Dimon has served as CEO of JPMorgan since December 2005. Over the last 19 years, JPM stock has gained 44 percent, roughly 8 percentage points worse than the S&P 500. JP Morgan’s compensation practices have raised red flags with experts.

15. Philippe Dauman, Viacom 15. Philippe Dauman, Viacom

2014 Compensation: $44,334,858
Overpaid By: $29,868,251

Dauman, the CEO of Viacom since September 2006, is facing calls from investors to resign. Shares of the company have tumbled nearly 50 percent over the past year.

14. Lamberto Andreotti, Bristol-Myers Squibb 14. Lamberto Andreotti, Bristol-Myers Squibb

2014 Compensation: $27,062,382
Overpaid By: $13,553,009

Andreotti served as chief executive of Bristol-Myers Squibb from May 2010 until he assumed the role of executive chairman of the company’s board in August 2015. Bristol-Myers Squibb stock gained nearly 200 percent, compared to 90 percent for the S&P 500. Andreotti was listed because his company was flagged on at least eight compensation practices by third-party evaluators.

13. Robert Iger, Walt Disney 13. Robert Iger, Walt Disney

2014 Compensation: $46,497,018
Overpaid By: $32,178,753

It’s hard to knock the results Iger has delivered since her took over as CEO in 2005. Shares of Walt Disney have surged 300 percent in that time. But the company and its share price have been plagued by concerns over how it will fare when cable TV subscribers who now pay handsomely for ESPN continue to cut the cord.

12. David Cote, Honeywell International 12. David Cote, Honeywell International

2014 Compensation: $29,142,121
Overpaid By: $15,272,245

Cote has served as chief executive of Honeywell since February 2001. Over the past five years, shares of the company have soared 78 percent, but the CEO makes the overpaid list because he makes much more than his industry peers, he gets a very generous retirement package and he earned more than $500,000 in job perks, the As You Sow report found.

11. Marc Benioff, salesforce.com 11. Marc Benioff, salesforce.com

2014 Compensation: $39,907,534
Overpaid By: $15,679,286

Benioff founded salesforce.com in 1999 and remains CEO. He makes the list in part because salesforce.com allowed a pay increase of 20 percent or more even while generating a low average return on assets, according to the As You Sow report. The company’s use of stock options was also flagged.

10. Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric 10. Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric

2014 Compensation: $37,250,774
Overpaid By: $24,064,362

Immelt worked hard to make GE is his own since taking over as chief executive in September 2001 from Jack Welch, and the company has performed well through some challenging times. GE stock rose 21 percent last year, for example. But Immelt is flagged by As You Sow because his pay is huge compared to his peers and the value of his pension is more than any individual could reasonably spend in retirement.

9. Steven Mollenkopf, Qualcomm 9. Steven Mollenkopf, Qualcomm

2014 Compensation: $60,740,592
Overpaid By: $48,379,119

Mollenkopf has served as Qualcomm’s chief executive since March 2014, but joined the company as an engineer in 1994. The company’s been going through a rough time, with the stock down 32 percent over the past 12 months and down 16 percent over the last five years.

8. Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil 8. Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil

2014 Compensation: $33,096,312
Overpaid By: $21,118,524

Tillerson has been at the helm of the world’s largest energy producer since January 2006. As oil prices have plunged 70 percent since June 2014, shares of the company have fallen to their lowest level since mid-2012. The stock has lagged the gains of the S&P 500 by 20 percentage points over the last 10 years.

7. Marissa Mayer, Yahoo 7. Marissa Mayer, Yahoo

2014 Compensation: $42,083,508
Overpaid By: $29,310,423

Mayer, chief executive of Yahoo since July 2012, has come under heavy fire for her management decisions at the company. Yahoo stock has plunged more than 40 percent since the beginning of 2015.

6. Jeffrey Leiden, Vertex Pharmaceuticals 6. Jeffrey Leiden, Vertex Pharmaceuticals

2014 Compensation: $36,635,468
Overpaid By: $23,438,711

Since Leiden was named chief executive in February 2012, Vertex’s shares have soared 140 percent. Still, Leiden scored a spot on the list because he was awarded equity grants that were worth more than $10 million and company earnings were low compared to investments, among other red flags cited by As You Sow.

5. Satya Nadella, Microsoft Corporation 5. Satya Nadella, Microsoft Corporation

2014 Compensation: $84,308,755
Overpaid By: $71,837,305

Microsoft stock got a boost when Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer as CEO in February 2014, and has handily beaten the market since then. The question remains whether the new CEO will deliver long-term value.

4. Steve Ells/Monty Moran, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. 4. Steve Ells/Monty Moran, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.

2014 Compensation: $57,077,473
Overpaid By: $40,786,070

Ells has led Chipotle since he founded the company in 1992, while Moran was promoted to co-chief executive in 2009 after serving as president and chief operating officer. Chipotle stock has tumbled 32 percent over the past six months thanks to outbreaks of several food-borne illnesses. Whether the company can rebound will be a true test of the co-CEOs’ worth.

3. Leslie Moonves, CBS Corporation 3. Leslie Moonves, CBS Corporation

2014 Compensation: $57,175,645
Overpaid By: $40,048,682

Moonves was named the executive chairman of CBS Corporation in early February after serving as CEO since 2003. CBS stock has soared 112 percent over the last five years, nearly three times the S&P 500…but Moonves makes almost six times the average large-company CEO.

2. Safra Catz/Mark Hurd, Oracle Corporation 2. Safra Catz/Mark Hurd, Oracle Corporation

2014 Compensation: $75,335,428
Overpaid By: $62,878,735

After serving as co-presidents of Oracle together, Catz and Hurd were named co-CEOs in September 2014. Shares of the company have fallen 17 percent over the past year, based on concerns about the sluggish growth of its cloud business.

1. David Zaslav, Discovery Communications Inc. 1. David Zaslav, Discovery Communications Inc.

2014 Compensation: $156,077,912
Overpaid By: $142,258,415

Since Zaslav was named chief executive of Discovery in 2007, the company’s market cap has jumped to $11.6 billion from less than $6 billion. Over the last five years, though, shares have plunged 39 percent.