It’s no surprise to anyone who’s been out driving lately that the price of gas is still pretty high. It might be a surprise that for energy stock Exxon Mobil’s (NYSE:XOM) CEO, his pay has gone up about as fast as drivers’ costs at the pump. Investors seem comparatively confused about this notion, and Exxon Mobil shares were up fractionally through Thursday’s trading.
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SEC filings detailed that Darren Woods‘ pay increased significantly against this time last year. Last year, he made $23.6 million, and this year, that increased to $35.9 million. That’s a 52% increase, and one of the biggest reasons was the increase in stock awards. While Woods’ bonus better than doubled against this time last year, he also landed over $11 million more in stock awards. Woods’ salary by itself, meanwhile, increased by 10%, hitting $1.9 million outright.
Comparatively, Woods definitely did better than much of the oil industry itself. Chevron (NYSE:CVX)’s CEO, Michael Wirth, took in $23.6 million in 2022, which was up just 4% against 2021’s figures. However, Wirth also landed a roughly 10% raise this year, which brought his base pay in line with Woods’ at $1.85 million.
Meanwhile, within Exxon Mobil itself, the median pay actually fell 9% to $171,582. Chevron’s CEO pay hike also seems to have come from worker cuts too; median pay at Chevron dropped 12%, going to $161,488. Both Chevron and Exxon Mobil produced record profits in 2022, thanks largely to surging oil prices and some cost-cutting like the kind we saw in median pay figures.
Both Chevron and Exxon Mobil are considered Moderate Buys by analyst consensus. Both even come with similar upside potential. Exxon Mobil’s average price target of $128.09 gives it 10.64% upside potential, while Chevron’s average price target of $188.29 gives it 9.42% upside potential.
