In 2023, the semiconductor industry experienced severe fluctuations, and the changes in the market affected the salaries of the top executives at chip giants. As proxy statements from various companies were released, the compensation details of executives like Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, AMD CEO Lisa Su, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang became clear.
The pay of top executives has always been a focus of external attention. Let’s see how much money the “ceiling” of 8 chip industry workers made.
01
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon: Annual income of $23.49 million
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon took office in 2021, on the 36th anniversary of Qualcomm’s establishment, becoming the fourth CEO in the company’s history.
Like the third CEO, Amon is also a corporate leader who grew from an engineer and is the second non-family CEO in Qualcomm’s history. Amon holds a Bachelor of Science degree and an honorary doctorate in electronic engineering from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo, Brazil.
According to the information submitted by Qualcomm to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for Qualcomm’s 2024 annual shareholder meeting, Amon’s base salary increased by 17% to $1.35 million. In addition, Amon received $21.1 million in stock awards, $540,000 in non-equity incentive plan compensation, and $490,000 in other compensations, totaling $23.49 million.
Despite this, Qualcomm’s performance last year did not see a significant increase. In the fiscal year 2023, Qualcomm’s total revenue was $35.82 billion, a 19% decrease year-over-year, and the net profit was $7.232 billion, a 44% plummet. The revenue from QCT (chip business) mobile chip business decreased by 22% year-over-year.
However, Qualcomm stated, “This was Mr. Amon’s first salary increase since he became CEO, decided after considering the company’s record financial performance in the fiscal year 2022 under his leadership.”
In the fiscal year 2023, the average compensation (median) for Qualcomm employees was $105,548, with CEO Amon’s compensation being approximately 223 times the average of Qualcomm employees. According to Qualcomm’s previous records, the average compensation (median) for employees in the fiscal year 2022 was $102,934, with the CEO pay ratio being 46:1.
02
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger: Annual income of $16.86 million
Pat Gelsinger began his tenure as the 8th CEO of Intel in 2021.
Gelsinger was an engineer under Andy Grove, the then-president of Intel, over 30 years ago, and later became Intel’s CTO before leaving the company. His return in 2021 was hailed by many as a symbol of Intel’s technological resurgence.
In his first year back at Intel, Pat Gelsinger’s annual income was $1.79 billion, including a “substantial new employee stock award” of exactly $140.43 million. At the time, Intel stated that the compensation was aimed to match Mr. Gelsinger’s abilities and experience and reflect the significant challenges of leading Intel’s transformation.
Subsequently, Gelsinger’s total compensation in 2022 was $16.1 million. This year, his total compensation rose by 45% to $16.86 million.
Breaking it down: the decrease was in his base salary and “all other compensation,” while there was an increase in stock awards. The base salary dropped from $1.3 million in 2022 to $1.07 million; “all other compensation” decreased from $497,100 to $362,900.
However, the value of his stock awards increased from $8.87 million to $12.43 million, and his non-equity incentive plan compensation (including cash performance bonuses) jumped from $945,900 to $2.89 million. He also received $112,000 in deferred compensation to reflect the change in the value of the pension he did not receive last year.
03
AMD CEO Lisa Su: Annual income of $30.35 million
In 2014, Lisa Su became the first female CEO in AMD’s history and led the company from losses to profitability.
According to AMD’s proxy statement, Lisa Su’s total compensation for 2023 was $30.35 million, slightly above the $30.22 million she earned in 2022. Compared to Intel’s CEO, Su’s compensation was 80% higher than Gelsinger’s.
Specifically, her base salary was $1.2 million, with $21.85 million in stock awards, $5.84 million in option awards, $1.43 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, and $28,711 in all other compensation. Other compensations included $14,850 contributed to the 401(k) plan, $2,412 in life insurance premiums, and $11,449 in “other” compensations, which were expenses for “spousal travel on company aircraft.”
Of her assets, about three-quarters consist of AMD stock, totaling about 4 million shares valued at approximately $700 million. Since January, AMD’s stock price has been breaking records, first hitting a 52-week high, then surpassing its historical record of $164.46 set in November 2021, reaching a peak of $184.92.
With AMD’s stock price breaking the $170 mark, Lisa Su’s net worth has now increased to over $1 billion, making her the 26th female billionaire in the United States.
04
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan: Annual income of $161.8 million
Broadcom’s helm is steered by Hock Tan, born in 1953, a Malaysian of Chinese descent. Known as the “King of Semiconductor M&A,” Broadcom was acquired under his leadership.
Broadcom’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 26 showed that CEO Hock Tan’s annual income more than doubled in 2023, reaching $161.8 million. In 2022, Tan’s annual income was $60.6 million.
Looking into the details, Tan’s base salary is a small fraction of the total compensation, only $1.2 million. The largest portion, $160.5 million, includes stock awards, with the rest classified as “all other compensation,” related to the company’s travel budget. With the $160.5 million in stock incentives, Tan’s compensation is 510 times the median employee compensation at Broadcom.
For the year 2023, Broadcom’s revenue was $35.82 billion, an 8% year-over-year increase, the slowest growth since 2020; net profit was $14.082 billion, up 22.6% year-over-year.
How did other Broadcom executives fare? CFO Kirsten Spears received $15.24 million, Chief Legal Officer Mark D. Brazeal received $15.49 million, and Charlie B. Kawwas, president of the semiconductor group, received $49.68 million.
05
Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra: Annual income of $25.3 million
Sanjay Mehrotra is the President and CEO of Micron Technology. He joined Micron in May 2017, previously serving as the CEO of SanDisk.
In February last year, Micron approved a reduction in the base salaries of some executives for the fiscal year 2023, effective immediately, stating it as one of the important measures to reduce the company’s costs and operating expenses.
Among Micron’s seven core executives, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra’s base salary was reduced by 20%, one Senior Vice President by 10%, and the remaining five Executive Vice Presidents by 15%. The base salaries of other executive-level employees were also reduced.
According to documents submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by Micron, the company also suspended the issuance of all bonuses for the seven core executives for the fiscal year 2023. As a result, their target cash compensation for the fiscal year 2023 would decrease by 53% to 75%.
However, Sanjay Mehrotra’s compensation is not solely comprised of his base salary. In 2022, his base salary was $1.41 million, with no bonus, and stock awards of $23.5 million. During that period, his total compensation amounted to $28.841 million.
According to Micron’s current filings with the SEC, Sanjay Mehrotra’s total compensation for 2023 was $25.3 million, indeed showing a decrease.
The average compensation (median) for Micron employees in fiscal year 2023 and the CEO pay ratio was 463 to 1.
06
Texas Instruments (TI) CEO Haviv Ilan: Annual income of $16.2 million
Texas Instruments CEO Haviv Ilan took office in April 2023, with a tenure of 2.33 years.
Ilan followed the former TI CEO Rich Templeton into an executive position, having worked inside the company for decades and climbed the ranks. TI described this transition as a “carefully planned succession.” Ilan became a Senior Vice President in 2014 and then Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in 2020.
Haviv Ilan’s total annual salary amounts to $16.2 million, which includes 6.8% in wages and 93.2% in bonuses, including company stocks and options. He directly owns 0.002% of the company’s shares, valued at 2.62 million euros. The average tenure for the management team and the board of directors is 6.3 years and 9.7 years, respectively.
07
TSMC CEO C.C. Wei: Annual income of 643 million New Taiwan Dollars
C.C. Wei’s career began in the technology R&D department of Texas Instruments and included roles such as Senior Manager of Logic and SRAM technology development at STMicroelectronics and Senior Vice President at Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing in Singapore.
He joined TSMC in 1998. In 2012, he and Mark Liu served as TSMC’s Co-Chief Operating Officers. Since 2018, he has been the President of TSMC.
In 2022, C.C. Wei’s compensation increased by 243 million New Taiwan Dollars to 643 million New Taiwan Dollars. Of this, 2.2% was in wages and 97.8% in bonuses, including company stocks and options. He directly owns 0.027% of the company’s shares, valued at 172.16 million USD. The median compensation for TSMC employees globally is 2.33 million New Taiwan Dollars, making Wei’s compensation 275 times that of his employees.
It’s noteworthy that on December 20 last year, TSMC announced that Chairman Mark Liu would retire after the next year’s shareholder meeting, with the current CEO and Vice Chairman C.C. Wei nominated as his successor, with the final result to be decided by the board’s vote in June of the following year.
08
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: Annual income of $21.356 million
The total compensation for Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in 2023 is not yet known, as Nvidia has not released complete data for the last fiscal year.
In 2022, Huang received $21.356 million, a 10% decrease from the previous year. Nvidia stated that the decrease was due to the company not meeting its performance targets, resulting in Huang not receiving his full bonus. The company’s revenue over 12 months remained flat at $26.974 billion compared to 2022, with net profits at $4.368 billion, down from $9.75 billion in 2022.
Despite a 10% reduction in his salary, Huang’s pay was still 94 times the median Nvidia global employee compensation of $229,078.
Historically, most of Huang’s income has been in the form of stock awards. In the fiscal year 2023, Huang received $19.7 million in Nvidia stock, up from $18.7 million the previous year.
As one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom, Nvidia’s stock price has surged impressively, rising by an astonishing 239% last year, with this year’s increase already at 83%. Nvidia’s market value has surpassed that of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and Amazon, and has just replaced Tesla as the top stock choice among retail investors.
Given these factors, Jensen Huang’s total compensation is likely to see a significant increase.
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