KUALA LUMPUR: The highest-paid CEOs in America include Apple's Tim Cook, Tesla creator Elon Musk, and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. Amongst these big names, who would have thought that a Malaysian would make the highest spot on the list?
But make it he did. Tan Hock Eng, a Penang-born 66-year-old, is currently the highest-paid Chief Executive Officer in America, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The analysis reported that the average CEO among the biggest companies in the US made US$12.1 million (RM47.4 million) in 2017.
However, Tan made a whopping US$103.2 million (RM406.9 million) last year – that is about 2,039 times more than the average US worker!
The head of Broadcom, an international supplier of semiconductor technologies, Tan saw his company's returns to shareholders increase in 2017 and his salary jump 318 per cent, from US$24.7 million (RM98 million) in 2016.
What is most interesting is that Tan's base cash salary in 2017 was 'only' US$1.1 million (RM4.35 million)
The bulk of his massive pay comes from shares awarded to him, valued at US$98.3 million (RM388.6 million), and a performance bonus of US$3.7 million (RM14.6 million), according to Time.
However, he will not receive all those shares yet. Instead, what Tan ultimately gets will depend on how Broadcom continues to perform.
The Penangite migrated to America through a scholarship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before making his name in the tech sector.
"My parents could not have afforded to send me to college, much less MIT, but this great American educational institution took a chance on me, sight unseen, by giving me a scholarship to pursue the American dream," he said, as reported by The Edge.
Last month in April, Broadcom announced that they had successfully relocated their legal address from Singapore to the United States.
"US President Donald Trump had even previously hosted an event with Tan to hail the growth of American jobs as a result of the chip manufacturer's relocation, which Tan said would bring in US$20 billion in revenue for the country," according to Time.
Tan owns several homes across America, although he's labelled himself as "kind of a frugal guy."
Two of his three children have autism, and as a result, his family has donated US$30 million (RM108.6 million) to autism research.
All in all, Tan Hock Eng has no doubt come a long way from being a "skinny 18-year-old kid" in Malaysia to now the wealthiest global tech chief in the United States. – SAYS.COM
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