The highest-paid CEO in America works for a company that has never made a profit

Which company has the best paid CEO in America? You'd think a household name, right?

Nope. Beating out the CEO of every single household name from Walmart to GE, from Apple to Goldman Sachs, is Charif Souki of Cheniere Energy, a small fracking firm that is just 2 percent of the size of energy mammoth Exxon Mobil. Souki made $142 million last year. Cheniere Energy has enthusiastic market support, as its stock has risen 1,800 percent since 2008, but it has never actually made a profit.

Of course, that $142 million pales in comparison to certain titans of the hedge fund management industry. David Tepper of Appaloosa Management earned $3.5 billion last year. Steven A. Cohen, the head of SAC Capital, was the second best-paid hedge fund manager last year, raking in $2.4 billion — even after the firm plead guilty to insider trading charges. And John Paulson of Paulson and Co. wasn't far behind with $2.3 billion.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up