But the highest-paid executives might not be who you expect. For example, Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man, was the lowest-paid CEO in 2021, receiving a total salary of $0 from Tesla Motors for the second year in a row. In 2018, however, Tesla awarded Musk a record-setting $2.3 billion pay package, including 12 tranches of stock options. In the years since, 11 of those 12 tranches have vested, potentially earning Musk $65 billion, and negating the need for regular pay. Roughly two-thirds of CEO compensation comes in the form of stock or stock-option awards, the Journal says, with the top 25 highest-paid CEOs claiming 78% of total compensation in equity. Receiving stock options as compensation confers earnings over several years rather than all at once, which can make the difference between being "well paid" and being fabulously wealthy in any given year.