Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Sep 05, 2025

The CEO of a company you've probably never heard of earned $211 million in compensation last year - and the title of highest-paid chief executive, according to a new ranking

The CEO of a company you've probably never heard of earned $211 million in compensation last year - and the title of highest-paid chief executive, according to a new ranking

Paycom founder and CEO Chad Richison makes about $20 million a year, and will have to hit aggressive performance goals to get his bonus compensation.
Jeff Bezos may be the world's wealthiest man, but his $1.7 million pay package from Amazon was nowhere close to making the list of the highest compensated CEOs in 2020.

The top spot on the New York Times' list of industry titans, which includes the likes of GE,Netflix, and JPMorgan Chase, goes to a cloud-based HR management software provider based in Oklahoma City called Paycom.

CEO Chad Richison's compensation package topped out at $211 million in 2020.

Richison founded Paycom in 1998, pioneering the employee self-service approach to HR management, which paved the way for things like enrolling in benefits or checking your pay stub from your phone.

The company now serves 31,000 clients with roughly 5 million individual profiles, mostly among mid-sized businesses with up to 5,000 employees.

As it turns out, Richison won't see the vast majority of this year's compensation package for several more years, as the stock-based award is part of a long-term incentive plan detailed in the the company's 2021 proxy statement.

In fact, Richison's actual pay for 2020 will come out more in the range of $20 million if Paycom's share price doesn't hit certain targets.

That's still a pretty high number, but a look at the company's recent performance would suggest Richison is doing a good job as CEO. The company's stock has outperformed S&P's index of software companies by a shattering margin, with 26% annual returns since 2017.

Paycom seems to buck the narrative of wealthy CEOs being rewarded despite business being battered by the pandemic, with several awards for management and worker satisfaction, including one from Glassdoor for leadership during the COVID-19 crisis.

With this compensation package, the board is showing it wants Richison to keep it up.

In order for Richison to receive the full long-term incentive worth about $175 million, Paycom's stock would have to climb from its current $400 value to $1,000 over the next six years and $1,750 over the next ten.

Richison's award structure "requires significant value creation for them before he can realize any value from the grant," Jason Clark, chair of Paycom's compensation committee, said in a statement to Insider.

"This grant further aligns our CEO's total compensation with the Company's sustained growth over the next decade and provides a strong incentive to continue building the Company's value," he added.

Richison will not be eligible for further equity grants until 2026.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
×