FX.co ★ Top 5 high-income CEOs in US

Lisa Su

Company: Advanced Micro Devices (development and production of computer processors)

Annual income: $58.5 million

Lisa Su is a Taiwan-born American business executive. Now she is the president and chief executive officer of AMD where she has been working since 2012. In her earlier life, she was awarded generous bonuses for her career achievements. Indeed, Lisa Su has made a glittering career. Back in 2002, the ambitious entrepreneur was included in the rating of 100 top young innovative employees according to MIT Technology Review, a popular business periodical. 18 years later, Lisa Su was acknowledged to be the most powerful lady in the business world according to Barron’s magazine. In 2019, she was nominated for the Best CEO Award. At present, the gifted business executive is invited as an honored guest to all hi-tech-related expositions and events. Her speeches are always the highlight of any event.

David Zaslav

Company: Discovery (TV network)

Income: $45.8 million

David has been the president and chief executive officer of Discovery Inc. since 2007. Earlier, he worked as a business executive at NBCUniversal. However, he achieved the most success and recognition at the helm of Discovery Inc. Thanks to his business merits, Discovery began trading as a public company on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2008. Since then, its stock has been yielding hefty profits. Because of his efforts, Discovery Inc. entered into a strategic alliance with PGA Tour. The company has been booming since 2008. It is considered one of the fastest growing cable TV networks in the US. In the course of his brilliant career, David Zaslav has been awarded prestigious prizes a few times. One of the most valuable is the Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award created by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial.

Bob (Robert) Iger

Company: Disney (mass media and entertainment)

Income: $45.6 million

Bob Iger began his media career as a weather TV presenter on the local TV after he had graduated from a college in Ithaca. In 1993, he was appointed President of ABC Network Television Group. Shortly after, Iger was named president and chief operating officer of ABC's corporate parent, Capital Cities/ABC. The Walt Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC in 1995. Bob Iger held that position until 1999 when he was promoted to president of The Walt Disney International. He was put in charge of the division overseeing the company’s relations with foreign partners. A year later, he was delegated full authority over the corporation as the chief operating officer (COO) and also became a member of the board. Since 2005, Bob Iger has been frequently assigned to the most powerful executives by Fortune and other reputable business periodicals.

Shantanu Narayen

Company: Adobe Inc. (software)

Income: $39.1 million

The stunning career of Shantanu Narayen is a great example of the American dream. The future top executive was born and grew up in India. He graduated from school and obtained a bachelor’s degree in the native country. He moved to the United States to complete his education and earned an MBA degree from the University of California in Berkeley. He embarked on an executive career in Apple Inc. Narayen joined Adobe in 1998 as senior vice-president of worldwide product development. A bit later, he was appointed executive vice-president of worldwide products. At the age of 45, he took the chair of the president and chief operating officer. Shantanu Narayen advanced rapidly up the career ladder. He has won a few awards as a successful executive. In 2011, he served as a member of the Management Advisory Board at Barack Obama’s administration. Last year, Narayen was honored with a Padma Shri award from the government of India.

Reed Hastings

Company: Netflix (movies, TV series, and documentaries)

Income: $38.6 million

Reed Hastings is an American media tycoon, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Netflix. He has earned a reputation of a distinguished top business executive. In 1991, he founded his first company, Pure Software, which designed products to troubleshoot software. The firm immediately gained popularity. However, Hastings realized that he lacked experience in managing a large number of employees. So, he applied to his board for resignation as a CEO and then left the company. Pure Software was taken public by Morgan Stanley. A couple of years later, it was purchased by Rational Software. Reed Hastings was serious about founding his new startup, Netflix. In 1998, he co-founded a subscription-based streaming service and became its co-CEO and chairman. On July 10, 2020, Netflix was acknowledged to be the largest entertainment/media company by market capitalization.