Meet the Highest Paid CFOs of 2023

The top-paid CFOs hail from a range of industries including technology, financial services and retail. Among the companies making the biggest payouts are retailing giant Walmart, iPhone maker Apple, asset manager Blackstone and Google parent Alphabet. All but one, videoconferencing company Zoom Video Communications, are in the S&P 500. Half of the CFOs are women. And only two, Apple’s Luca Maestri and Blackstone’s Michael Chae, are repeats from 2022’s top 10.

At three of the 10 companies with the highest-paid finance chiefs—Alphabet, professional-services company Aon and chip maker Advanced Micro Devices—the CFO’s overall compensation package was higher than the chief executive’s pay. At two of them, the finance chief’s pay increased more than the CEO’s did, year over year. Two others, Zoom and online travel platform Booking Holdings, recently faced investor frustration over executive pay packages in nonbinding shareholder votes, prompting the companies to reassess how company leaders are paid.

Higher pay makes sense for several reasons, according to compensation advisers. Companies are looking to keep or attract the right person to run their finances in an uncertain economic and geopolitical environment. And they should pay a premium for that, said David Baff, the former senior vice president of executive compensation at Comcast who now sits on the advisory board at C-Suite Comp.

“It’s more important than ever to keep to continuity, keep the stability,” Baff said.

Taking stock 

The bulk of executive pay usually consists of restricted stock or stock options, the actual realizable value of which fluctuates with the market. As the S&P 500 soared 24% last year, executives steering companies’ finances saw their pay rise. The value of stock options or awards for Charter Communications CFO Jessica Fischer and Aon CFO Christa Davies, who is stepping down from the role this year, rose more than sevenfold and threefold, respectively. 

Fischer received a stock award covering five years, with time- and performance-based hurdles, which boosted that component of her pay for 2023. Charter Communications and Aon declined to comment.

Stock-based pay is also used to attract executives, or as a reward if they are promoted from within. Walmart CFO John David Rainey, the highest paid CFO in 2023 at nearly $40 million, stepped into the role in June 2022. Most of Rainey’s pay in 2023 came from stock awards and a bonus tied to his joining the company. His pay for fiscal year 2024, which ended Jan. 31, was $13.2 million. Walmart pointed to annual disclosures in response to a request for comment.  

CFO pay trends typically follow those of chief executives, compensation advisers say. If CEOs are making more, the expectation is that finance chiefs are too. As 2023 median pay for finance chiefs rose around 8.5%, for instance, CEO median compensation rose 10.6%, according to the C-Suite Comp data. 

In some cases, though, CFO pay increased more than for CEOs. Among the 10 highest-paid finance chiefs last year, this was true at Zoom, where CFO Kelly Steckelberg was compensated $36.7 million, a more than 93-fold increase from 2022. Chief Executive Eric Yuan’s pay in 2023, at nearly $76 million, increased 68-fold.

Most of Steckelberg’s pay, which made her the second highest-paid CFO overall, came from a stock award valued at $36.3 million. She, like other Zoom executives, saw pay lifted considerably in 2023 because of “four-year refresh” equity awards, which rather than granted annually are meant to be equivalent to four years of typically market-based annual grants, according to a regulatory filing.

Shareholder support for Zoom executives’ 2023 pay packages dropped to around 63.5% from support levels above 90% for the two prior years, in part because of the refresh award, the company said in a regulatory filing. Companies in recent years have tended to get around 90% support on these votes, and less than 70% support tends to signal notable investor frustration.

Zoom executives’ pay for fiscal 2024, which ended Jan. 31, was lower than in 2023. Steckelberg’s total pay for the year was down more than 63%, to around $13.4 million, from 2023. That includes a stock award valued at nearly $13 million in fiscal 2024. Roughly 82% of shares voted were in favor of the latest pay packages. 

At Booking Holdings, the company behind online travel sites Booking.com and Priceline, finance chief David Goulden’s pay increased nearly 96% in 2023 from the previous year, to $23.7 million. CEO Glenn Fogel’s pay rose 48%. The pay for Goulden, who stepped down as CFO in March, was primarily lifted by stock awarded with a value of more than $19.5 million. 

Sometimes, finance chiefs take home more than chief executives. Among the 10 highest-paid CFOs, this is the case for Alphabet finance chief Ruth Porat, who is moving out of the CFO role next month. Last September, Porat became president and chief investment officer while also continuing as CFO until a successor was named. And likewise for Aon’s Christa Davies and Jean Hu, CFO at Advanced Micro Devices. 

Hu’s 2023 pay, at around $32.8 million, was largely made up of a one-time cash and stock grant tied to her joining Advanced Micro Devices in January of last year, the company said. 

One reason CFO pay might see a boost has to do with turnover. Finance chiefs are on the move lately, with turnover in S&P 500 companies hitting 5.8% in the first quarter of this year, the highest since the same three-month period in 2021 when it was 6.4%, according to Russell Reynolds Associates. 

This can mean higher pay as companies look to keep CFOs or attract the right ones to the role, said Jason Brooks, managing director of global employer services at professional-services company BDO. “We do see a lot of pressure in turnover,” particularly for CFOs in small and midmarket companies who are going to larger companies, he said. “There tends to be just be a lot more movement in this role than you may see in other roles. That can influence pay.”

Pay scrutiny

High pay isn’t without potential pushback, particularly when it comes to chief executives’ compensation. 

Along with Zoom, Booking Holdings in recent years had lower shareholder support than in previous years for executives’ pay. Their 2022 compensation packages garnered roughly 32% support, as investors were concerned about vesting periods for performance share unit awards and a board committee’s use of discretion when altering pay plans. Changes were made for 2023 compensation packages, which got around 90% support. 

It is unusual that companies don’t get the needed support for votes on pay, with only 1% in the S&P 500 failing this year, according to preliminary results from Sullivan & Cromwell. 

Shareholders may also use votes on pay to show frustration with topics such as a dividend policy or governance matters, or because executives are being paid more while company shares are underperforming, said BDO’s Brooks, speaking generally. Among the companies with the top 10 highest-paid CFOs, total shareholder returns at three of them—Walmart, Zoom and cable giant Charter Communications—were below the S&P 500’s overall performance at one and three years, according to C-Suite Comp. 

Companies use total shareholder returns in explaining their compensation to investors and other stakeholders. But the comparison alone may not fully capture the picture, said Bill Reilly, a managing director at compensation advisory firm Pearl Meyer. Companies in a challenged industry, for instance, may have performed well against others facing similar conditions while looking unfavorable compared with the broader S&P 500, he said. 

“Having said that, if you’re in a down year, maybe your financial performance is down, maybe your stock price is down, you can certainly expect some scrutiny,” according to Reilly. “So you want to make sure that you’re making prudent and defensible decisions about your executive pay determinations.” 

Write to Jennifer Williams at jennifer.williams@wsj.com