American Express CEO highest paid among US fintech, payment firms in 2022

American Express Co. CEO Stephen Squeri emerged as the top-paid CEO among US payments companies in 2022, with total adjusted compensation of $48 million.

Squeri's compensation was also the highest amount received by any CEO in the US financial technology and payments industry combined, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

The New York-based payment processor also logged the highest CEO pay ratio among the 20 companies in the analysis, with Squeri's compensation coming in at 972x the median employee salary.

The ratio includes the 2022 special award and the equivalent annual total compensation for the identified median compensated employee of $49,409, according to a March 17 proxy filing.

Squeri's total pay comprised $12.4 million in cash compensation, $16.8 million in stock incentives and $18.8 million in option awards. Without the 2022 special award — performance-based, nonqualified stock options — American Express' CEO pay ratio would have been 668:1, the company said in the filing.

Alfred Kelly of San Francisco-based Visa Inc. grabbed the No. 2 spot among the highest-paid CEOs in the payments space in 2022. Kelly's total adjusted compensation of $28.1 million was a yearly decline of 9.2%, comprising $1.8 million in cash compensation, $14.8 million in stock awards, $5.3 million in options and $6.2 million in a nonequity incentive plan.

Only two women ranked among the 20 highest-paid CEOs in the US financial technology and payments sector in 2022 — Stephanie Ferris of Fidelity National Information Services Inc. and Melissa Smith of WEX Inc. — both from the payments sector. Ferris has been CEO of Fidelity National Information since Dec. 16, 2022.

Dun & Bradstreet CEO highest paid in fintech realm

Anthony Jabbour, CEO of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Dun & Bradstreet Holdings Inc., was the highest-paid CEO in the US financial technology sector in 2022 with total adjusted compensation at $29.2 million, a 211.8% increase year over year.

Jabbour logged the highest yearly hike in total adjusted compensation among the 20 firms included in the analysis. Much of Jabbour's 2022 compensation consisted of stock incentives and option awards amounting to $20 million and $8.1 million during the year, respectively.

Jabbour's target incentive opportunity under the company's annual incentive plan was set at 200% of his 2022 base salary, which remained unchanged from 2021. Jabbour's 2022 base salary was $250,000, according to an April 27 proxy filing.

– Read the S&P Global Market Intelligence Executive Compensation Review for US banks and thrifts as per GICS classification. – Download a template for US bank and thrift executive compensation peer analysis.

Douglas Peterson of New York-based S&P Global Inc. occupied the No. 2 spot among the 10 highest-paid CEOs in the financial technology realm with total adjusted compensation at $28.6 million in 2022, a 77.4% yearly hike. The compensation included $23.8 million in stock incentives, the highest among all the executives on the list.

S&P Global CEO compensation was 797x the median total compensation for all its employees in 2022, the highest in the group.

Of the 10 highest-paid CEOs in the US financial technology sector, five had a year-over-year decline in their total adjusted salary, including Anthony Noto of San Francisco-based digital lender SoFi Technologies Inc. Noto's total compensation declined 87.5% compared to 2021. Noto was the second highest-paid CEO in the realm in 2021.

The other four CEOs who registered a yearly decline in their total compensation were Andrew Florance of CoStar Group Inc., Frank Bisignano of Fiserv Inc., Jeffrey Brown of Ally Financial Inc. and William Stone of SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc.