Tan Hock Eng, a Malaysia-born businessman, has been declared the highest-paid chief executive officer in the world based on the amount of compensation he received in 2023.

Tan's earned US$162 million (S$218.8 million) in compensation last year.

An analysis by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) showed that his compensation surpassed those of Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Tim Cook.

"Tan, who is a U.S. citizen, is the CEO of semiconductor company Broadcom Inc. and has been topping the pay charts since 2006, receiving US$103 million in 2017," WSJ reported.

Tan, who has been Broadcom's CEO since 2006, reportedly has been a U.S. citizen since 1990.

His reported age is 71 years old in 2024.

It was previously reported that he was a skinny boy who hails from Penang, who then went on to become one of the global leaders in the cut-throat tech world.

He was also reported to have been elected to the board of directors of Meta Platforms earlier in 2024.

Conditions attached

However, Tan's pay package comes with several conditions.

The catch is that he will only receive the full amount if his company's stock hits a certain level by 2025, WSJ added.

On top of that, Broadcom said Tan's compensation was also dependent on his remaining in the role for another five years.

He will also not be getting any more equity or cash bonuses until that period has passed.

Broadcom is an American multinational designer, developer, manufacturer, and global supplier of semiconductor and infrastructure software products.

The semiconductor company's shares are up 27 per cent this year and 106 per cent over the past 12 months.

Its total market capitalisation has risen to US$655 billion (S$885 billion).

Other top-earning CEOs

Two other CEOs made nine-figure salaries in 2023, according to WSJ, as reported by Fox News.

They include Palo Alto Networks' Nikesh Arora and Blackstone's Steve Schwarzman.

Arora made US$151 million (S$204 million), mostly in the form of share grants covering the next three years.

Schwarzman, who is known for his opulent lifestyle and his past support of Donald Trump, earned US$120 million.

Shares in Palo Alto Networks and Blackstone jumped 110 per cent and 54 per cent in 2023, respectively.

Apple's Cook, Netflix's Ted Sarandos, and Warner Bros. Discovery's David Zaslav also made it onto the list of the U.S.'s 10 best-paid CEOs.

No women featured in the top 25 of the list.

Top photos via Broadcom & Yang Tan Collective