By the numbers: Here's how much Triangle CEOs made last year

Note: Total compensation includes base salary, stock/options, bonuses and perks. 2023 was the first year that compensation was reported for Tom Pike and Shane O'Kelly. Data: SEC filings; Chart: Axios Visuals

Compensation levels for CEOs hit new heights last year, but they were more of a mixed bag for leaders of some of the Triangle's largest companies.

State of play: Of the 24 publicly traded Triangle companies surveyed by Axios, 11 of their CEOs received pay increases in 2023 and 11 saw decreases, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

• Two were new to the job and didn't have a 2022 salary to compare.

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The big picture: These Triangle CEOs are still paid substantially, with their average total compensation coming in at $7.2 million.

• Most of that compensation, however, comes in the form of stocks grants, which are tied to the company's performance on the stock market.
• Those grants help to push CEO pay well beyond the wages of other employees. Raleigh car parts dealer Advance Auto Parts, for instance, paid its two CEOs 568 times the company's median wage of $23,923 — the largest spread reported by a Triangle firm in 2023.

By the numbers: Despite seeing his total compensation fall last year, Ari Bousbib, of Durham clinical research firm IQVIA, remains the highest-paid CEO of a public company in the Triangle, with a total compensation package of $29.2 million.

• The second highest-paid CEO was also in the clinical research field, with LabCorp's spinout Fortrea giving Tom Pike an initial salary package worth $26.3 million. (Pike was previously CEO of Durham's Quintiles before it merged with IMS Health to form IQVIA.)
• Also new to the list this year is Shane O'Kelly, whom Advance Auto Parts hired to turn around the retailer's finances. O'Kelly, a former Home Depot executive, received a $9.4 million package to replace former CEO Tom Greco.

Frank Holding Jr., the CEO of First Citizens Bank and a new entrant to North Carolina's billionaire club , saw his compensation package grow 24% to $10 million last year.

• First Citizens' stock price has grown nearly 100% to $1,778 per share , as of Tuesday, since it made the decision to buy the distressed Silicon Valley Bank last march .

Gregg Lowe , who is overseeing's Durham semiconductor maker Wolfspeed's $5 billion factory expansion in Chatham County, saw his compensation grow 34.4% to $12.5 million.

• However, an activist investor, Jana Partners, has pushed back on Lowe's strategy in recent months, even urging the company to consider selling itself .

The intrigue: Many of the Triangle's largest employers are privately held companies, startups or satellite offices for firms headquartered elsewhere — making it harder to know how their compensation levels compare.

• For instance, the salaries for SAS Institute CEO Jim Goodnight and Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney — two billionaire founders of private tech companies — are not available to the public.
• Though that could change if SAS files for an initial public offering in 2025 , like it has insinuated.