More execs join billionaire ranks as stock awards soar

A record number of American billionaires are earning their fortunes not as founders or heirs but as top-ranking corporate executives.

According to Forbes, 48 individuals in the United States have joined the so-called “hired-hand billionaire” club in 2025 — executives who built ten-figure fortunes primarily through compensation and stock awards while working for companies they did not found. That marks a significant rise from 29 last year and just seven in 2010.

The growing presence of these non-founder billionaires is fueled by the continued expansion of equity-based pay and soaring share prices in the U.S. stock market. Since 2010, the S&P 500 has risen nearly 370 percent, while the average equity portion of CEO compensation grew from 54 percent in 2012 to 66 percent by 2023, according to compensation consultancy Semler Brossy.

While the average pay for the top 10 U.S. CEOs dropped to $125 million per year in 2023 from a 2021 high of $330 million, the accumulated value of past share grants continues to appreciate. Many of today’s executive billionaires benefited from equity awards made years ago, which have grown in value thanks to long-term stock performance and a bullish market driven by innovation in artificial intelligence and technology.

Among this year’s most prominent entrants is Vasily Shikin, chief technology officer of AppLovin, who became a billionaire after the company’s AI-driven growth helped its stock multiply several times over. Jon Winkelried, a former Goldman Sachs executive and now CEO of private equity giant TPG, also joined the ranks after helping take the firm public and earning a stake worth nearly $1 billion. Larry Culp, chairman and CEO of GE Aerospace, amassed his fortune by leading the restructuring of General Electric into three separate public companies, significantly increasing the value of his equity holdings.

Nikesh Arora, former Google and SoftBank executive and now CEO of Palo Alto Networks, turned the cybersecurity firm into a powerhouse during his tenure. He has accumulated nearly $800 million from stock sales and holds equity valued at several hundred million more. Meanwhile, Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft, crossed the billion-dollar threshold as the tech giant’s valuation soared past $3.4 trillion. Nadella has led Microsoft’s aggressive push into artificial intelligence, including its multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI.

Blackstone also contributed significantly to this trend, producing five hired-hand billionaires. Among them are Joseph Baratta and Michael Chae, who have spent decades building the firm’s private equity empire and now each hold equity worth close to $1 billion.

Hired-hand billionaires remain a minority but are growing in influence. In 2010, they made up only 2 percent of the U.S. billionaire population. By 2025, that share has more than doubled to 5 percent, even as the total number of U.S. billionaires nears 900. This rise outpaces the overall growth of America’s billionaire class and underscores the increasing wealth-generating power of corporate leadership roles, especially when linked to long-term stock-based incentives.