Lisa Su: CEO becomes first woman ever to top Associated Press pay survey
'Women still represent a disproportionately small share of corporate leadership'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The CEO of Advanced Micro Devices has become the first woman ever to top the Associated Press’s annual pay survey.
Lisa Su, 50, had a total pay package of $58.5m (£48m) in her role as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in 2019, around $13m (£11m) higher than the highest-paid male CEO in the survey of S&P's 500 companies.
Ms Su is a Taiwanese-American business executive and electrical engineer, known for her work developing semiconductor technologies.
Her total compensation in 2019 was four times greater than her pay the year before, with stock awards for performance added to her base salary of $1m (£800,000) and a performance-based bonus of $1.2m (£980,000). The stock awards are vested over several years.
Ms Su began her role as CEO in 2014, and since then the company's stock rose from around $3 (£2.45) to about $55 (£45). Overall, 2019 was one of Advanced Micro Devices' strongest years.
Overall on the AP's survey, pay for women was up 2.3% versus 5.4% for men, when looking at the median change in compensation.
The median total pay for women on the list was $13.9m (£11.3m), versus $12.3m (£10m) for men.
Women remained significantly under-represented as CEOs, heading just 5% percent of S&P 500 companies with a total of 20 women on the AP's list, versus 309 men.
“Women are making incremental progress achieving leadership positions in the C-suite,” said Lorraine Hariton, President & CEO of Catalyst, a nonprofit organisation focused on women in the workplace.
“However, the fact remains that women CEOs still represent a disproportionately small share of corporate leadership, and women of colour aren’t represented at all.”
The survey was part of the AP’s annual review of companies in the S&P 500 which began in 2011 and is conducted by Equilar. The analysis only includes CEOs who have been in their job for two years.
The data was measured before the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic and considers a combination of salary, bonus, perks, stock awards, and deferred compensation.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments