The Highest-Paid Woman CEO Is Not A Banker: The Answer May Enrage Californians

This story is part of a new series of features on the subject of success, Benzinga Inspire.

Although women make up 50% of the human population, they are massively underrepresented in leadership roles, although the trend is, albeit very slowly, starting to shift.

This year, for the first time ever, more than 10% of CEOs at the helm of companies on the Fortune 500 list are women, with 53 out of the 500 companies being led by a woman, according to Footwear News. That number is up from 8.1% in 2021.

In terms of publicly traded companies on the S&P 500, 41 are led by women, meaning just 8.2% of companies on the index are run by a woman, according to Catalyst.

Although none of the top five highest-paid women on the list are also the top 10 richest women in the world, which is the correlation that exists with many of the richest men in the world, the powerful women lead multi-billion-dollar companies in multiple sectors.

While women and men should feel encouraged that more women are leading mega-cap publicly traded companies, Californians, who have been suffering rolling blackouts for years while paying exorbitant utility bills, may not be happy to know the CEO of PG&E Corporation PCG, Patricia Kessler Poppe, is the highest paid woman of any company on the S&P 500.

So who are these wealthy women leading massive companies and how much do they make?

Below is a look at the top 5 highest paid women CEOs leading companies on the S&P 500, ranked by total adjusted compensation in 2021.

1. As the highest-paid CEO, Poppe brought in $51.2 million in annual compensation. The top executive of Pacific Gas & Electric makes 255 times her average employee’s salary. Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric have surged recently, rising about 66% since June 2022, which has also helped to increase Poppe’s wealth.
2. Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc AMD, ranks second-highest on the list, with total annual compensation of $29.5 million. Su makes 230 times more than the average AMD employee. AMD stock is up 77% since October 2022 but down 41% from its peak in 2021.
3. General Motors Company GM CEO Mary Barra is the third highest-paid CEO, bringing in a total of $29.1 million in compensation. Barra makes 420 times more than the average GM employee. The legacy-turning-EV manufacturer stock has plunged 50% since Jan. 5, 2022.
4. The fourth highest-paid is Rosalind Gates Brewer, who rakes in $28.3 million in total compensation. The Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA CEO makes a whopping 1,084 times more than her average employee. The stock has declined over 40% since Jan. 11, 2022.
5. Carol Tome, CEO of United Parcel Service, Inc UPS comes in ranked at number five on the list. Tome takes home $27.6 million in annual compensation, 548 times more than her average employee. UPS stock is down about 20% from Feb. 1. 2022.

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Photo: Sergey Nivens via Shutterstock