More than half of Houston's ten highest-paid corporate executives in 2020 were managers of companies in the oil and gas industry, the Houston Chronicle reports.
Six out of the ten top earners of Houston-based companies were from the energy sector, despite the fact that last year was one of the most difficult in the U.S. oil and gas industry, which had to cope with the crash in oil prices and demand during the pandemic.
Even amid the crisis, companies were careful in changing pay to executives, Ani Huang, president and CEO of the Center on Executive Compensation, told the Houston Chronicle.
According to the list, the 10 highest-paid executives of Houston-based listed firms made a total of $211 million last year. Considering the fact that Houston is the oil capital of the United States, it is not surprising that many energy executives made the list.
Ryan Lance, chairman and chief executive officer at ConocoPhillips, became the top corporate executive earner in Houston last year, receiving an estimated total of $28 million in 2020, including a large share of stock awards. Lance was second on the same list the previous year.
The estimates of executive pay are likely to vary compared to actual pay because of the big portion of stock awards and grants the top managers receive on top of their salaries, Wes Hart, managing director of the Houston office of executive compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer, told the Houston Chronicle.
The other energy executives in the top ten earners include Greg Garland, chairman and CEO of Phillips 66, and Jeff Miller, president and CEO at oilfield services giant Halliburton.
Anthony Petrello, CEO at Nabors Industries, Bob Patel, chief executive at LyondellBasell, and Lorenzo Simonelli, chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes, complete the list of the six energy executives in Houston's top ten highest-paid managers of public companies.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More