Arch Capital's Papadopoulo tops P&C insurer CEO pay list in 2024

Arch Capital Group Ltd.'s Nicolas Papadopoulo was the highest-paid CEO among US-listed property and casualty or multiline insurers in 2024, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis.

Papadopoulo received total adjusted compensation of $31.7 million in 2024, a 347% increase from $7.1 million in 2023 when he was the company's president and chief underwriting officer. His compensation package consisted of $1.4 million in cash, $9.6 million in stock, $17 million in options and $3.7 million in nonequity incentive compensation.

His compensation was approximately 212x the median Arch Capital employee salary of $149,222.

Papadopoulo was named CEO on Oct. 14, 2024, succeeding Marc Grandisson, who retired after holding the position since 2018. Papadopoulo had been Arch Capital's president and chief underwriting officer since 2021. Arch Capital declined to comment.

Chubb Ltd. CEO Evan Greenberg, the highest-paid CEO in the 2023 analysis, was second in total adjusted compensation at $30.1 million, a 9% increase from $27.7 million in the prior year. Greenberg's compensation package consisted of $12.8 million in cash and $17.4 million in stock.

Greenberg's compensation was approximately 477x the median Chubb employee salary of $63,197, the highest ratio among the top 10 insurers in this analysis. The ratio increased from 452x in 2023, 346x in 2022 and 322x in 2021.

Greenberg has been Chubb's CEO since May 2004. Chubb declined to comment.

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Tom Wilson, CEO of The Allstate Corp., moved up to third place in 2024 from fourth place in 2023 with $26.1 million in total adjusted compensation, a 58.6% year-over-year increase from $16.5 million. Wilson's compensation is 364x the median Allstate employee salary of $73,333, up from 239x in the prior year.

Wilson's 2024 compensation included $1.5 million in cash, a 51% year-over-year increase in stocks to $11.9 million from $7.9 million, $4.7 million in options and $8.0 million in nonequity incentive plan compensation, almost quadruple the $2.1 million he received in 2023.

HCI Group Inc. CEO Paresh Patel had the largest increase in compensation in the analysis, a 451.5% jump to $20.2 million from $3.7 million in 2023, while his CEO-to-median employee ratio also increased, rising to 308x from 255.2x. The base salary of an HCI employee was $65,649 in 2024.

The bulk of Patel's rise in compensation, which was sixth highest in the analysis, came from a stock grant of 200,000 shares in HCI with a value of $15.8 million.

Four other CEOs in the analysis, including Papadopoulo, received year-over-year increases of over 100% in their compensation.

Margaret Tooth of Trupanion Inc. had the second-highest increase of 357% to $4.4 million from $1 million. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc.'s Stephen Sills' package rose 235.9% to $4.7 million from $1.4 million, fourth in the analysis, while Gabriel Tirador of Mercury General Corp. had a 125.4% increase to $3.7 million from $1.6 million.

American International Group Inc.'s Peter Zaffino ranked fourth and The Travelers Cos. Inc.'s Alan Schnitzer ranked fifth. Zaffino and Schnitzer were ranked second and third, respectively, in the 2023 analysis. Zaffino received $24.6 million in compensation, virtually unchanged from 2023, while Schnitzer received a 2.4% bump in compensation to $22.6 million from $22 million.

The Hartford Insurance Group Inc.'s Chris Swift was in seventh place with $19.3 million in compensation and W. R. Berkley Corp.'s William Berkley was in eighth place with $17.1 million. Swift's compensation represented a 19% increase from 2023, while Berkley received a 3.4% bump.

Rounding out the top 10 were Tricia Griffith of The Progressive Corp. in ninth with total adjusted compensation of $16.4 million, and CNA Financial Corporation's Dino Robusto at $16.1 million.