Minnesota’s Highest-Paid CEO Just Received A Massive Raise

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He's already the CEO who earned the most money in Minnesota, and he just landed a pretty hefty salary increase as well.

If you're looking for a job that pays pretty well, you can't do better in Minnesota than the CEOs of many of our state's biggest companies. But before we jump into the massive raise Minnesota's highest-paid CEO just landed, let's define just what a CEO is. According to Investopedia, a CEO (that's Chief Executive Officer, btw) is defined like this:

A CEO is the highest-ranking executive in a company whose primary responsibilities usually include making major corporate decisions and managing the overall resources and operations of a company.

Investopedia goes on to explain that the CEO of a company is elected by the board and its shareholders. They report to the chair and the board, who are appointed by shareholders.

So, seeing as CEOs are charged with a lot of responsibility, it makes sense they're compensated fairly well. And saying CEOs are 'compensated fairly well' might be the biggest understatement of the year, seeing as Investopedia also notes that CEOs of the 350 largest companies in the U.S. earn an average of $24 million. That's 351 times more than an average employee earns!

READ MORE: The 15 MN Companies on the Latest Fortune 500 List

So while I'm all for making as much money as we can, it does boggle the mind just a little bit when you consider the compensation of James Cracchiolo. He's the CEO of Ameriprise Financial Inc., a financial and investment services firm that has its headquarters in downtown Minneapolis.

According to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal (MSPBJ), Cracchiolo's compensation increased over 24 percent last year and now tops $28 million. (Did YOU get a 24 percent raise last year? Yeah, me neither. Of course, I also don't make $28 million a year.) Here are the specifics, courtesy of the MSPBJ: 

In a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Cracchiolo's total reported compensation was $28,378,031 in last year. That compares to $22.8 million in 2022 and $21.2 million in 2021.

So while that's a pretty good raise-- on top of a pretty decent compensation package--  keep in mind that some other CEOs here in Minnesota, like those at private companies that are still family-owned (like Minnesota's Cargill) earn even more. Keep scrolling to see which families in the U.S. earn the most!

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