The Ultimate MBA Salary: Highest-Paid CEOs

Stern School of Business, New York University

$22,390,553

James M Cracchiolo has served as the CEO of Ameriprise Financial since it span off from American Express in 2005 (it is the successor to American Express Financial Advisors, so it can technically trace its roots back to 1894). Its successful transition to independence – Ameriprise Financial is the largest financial planning company in the US – may well rank as the NYU Stern graduate’s crowning achievement in a distinguished 35-year career in financial services.

Columbia Business School

$23,251,670

James P Gorman moved to the US from his native Australia to study an MBA at Columbia Business School, at which he is now a trustee. Things worked out quite well for him – to which his MBA salary attests. He joined Morgan Stanley as president and COO of its Global Wealth Management Group in 2006 following stints at McKinsey and Merrill Lynch, and took over as CEO in 2010, and chairman in 2012. He holds a BA and LLB from the University of Melbourne.

Photo: Financial Times/Flickr

Harvard Business School

$23,511,823

We’re cheating a little bit here, as McNerney has recently stepped down as Boeing CEO (on July 1 2015 to be precise), though he has retained his position as chairman, which he has held since 2005. He’s worked across a few industries, starting out at Procter & Gamble in 1975, before a move to McKinsey. This was followed by an 18-year stint at GE and five years at 3M. Though he no longer has his responsibilities as a CEO to worry about, he will be keeping busy as a member of the board of directors at IBM and Proctor & Gamble, a trustee of Northwestern University and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the chairman of the President’s Export Council.

UCLA Graduate School of Management (now the Anderson School of Management)

$23,862,458

Laurence Fink is the only CEO BlackRock has ever known. That’s because he founded the company himself in 1988, after a mistaken prediction which cost his department at First Boston $100 million taught him the importance of comprehensive risk management. BlackRock has gone from strength to strength since then, going public in 2003 and merging with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in 2006. In 2008, BlackRock was contracted by the US government to manage the toxic assets of Bear Stearns, AIG, Freddie Mac and Morgan Stanley. So that’s one way to bounce back, eh?

Photo: GongTo/Shutterstock

Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

$24,236,113

CEO of biopharmaceutical multinational Celgene since 2010, Robert J Hugin is the chairman of the board of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Hugin, who graduated from the University of Virginia in 1985, served in the United States Marine Corps before entering the world of business. He now serves on the board of trustees of both the Darden School and Princeton, where he studied at undergraduate level. Celgene specializes in cancer treatments and has annual revenue of $6.5 billion.

Harvard Business School

$27,645,893

Both James Dimon’s father and his grandfather were stockbrokers, so you could say that banking was in his blood. After starting out at American Express, he followed his mentor, Sandy Weill, to new adventures, which culminated in a merger between Weill’s Travelers Group and Citicorp to form Citigroup – the world’s largest financial services company. The two’s relationship soured, but – as you can see from that MBA salary, not to mention his role – Dimon landed on his feet. He has however, courted controversy for his role in the London Whale scandal, during which he misled investors, hiding the true scale of losses.

Photo: Steve Jurveston/Flickr

Stanford GSB

$32,657,579

There can’t be too many other philosophy majors on the list of the most highly-paid CEOs. There can’t be too many CEOs who hung out with Captain Beefheart collaborators and horror movie actors at college. But, lo and behold, the number one entrant in our listing of astronomical MBA salaries is Time Warner CEO, Jeffrey Bewkes. Bravo, sir. Starting out as banker, Bewkes – who attempted a career as a documentary maker before his MBA – entered the media sector with HBO, rising through the ranks to become CEO in 1995. He managed to casually triple its profits, giving us the HBO we know and love today, which put him in good stead to become chairman of Time Warner’s entertainment and networks group in 2002, and Time Warner CEO Dick Parson’s right-hand man. So when Parsons stepped down, where better to look for someone to fill his boots!

Photo: David Shankbone/Wikimedia Commons