Who owns your food? Meet America's top 10 food tycoons
Big Food is big business — and for chief executives at some of the largest food companies in the U.S., it’s a lofty means of making money.
Brands such as PepsiCo., Tyson Foods Inc., and Nestle, are among the leading food and beverage food companies nationwide, according to data gathering platform Statista. We’ve compiled a list of the average salaries that chief executives at the 10 biggest food and beverage companies in North America make annually, as well as when they took over as CEOs.
It’s important to note that companies pay executives differently — bonuses and stock options play a big part in their leader’s net worth — and salaries can be impacted by years of experience, the size of the company, whether they are privately held, as well as that company’s particular pay strategy.
1. Ramon Laguarta, PepsiCo.
- Average salary: $1.7 million
- CEO takeover: 2018
2. Donnie D. King, Tyson Foods
- Average salary: $1.4 million
- CEO takeover: 2021
3. Steven Wood Presley, Nestle
- Average salary: $652,000
- CEO takeover: 2018
4. Wesley Batista Filho, JBS Foods, U.S.
- Average salary: $562,500
- CEO takeover: 2023
5. Carlos Abrams-Rivera, Kraft Heinz
- Average salary: $800,000
- CEO takeover: 2023
6. Jeff Harmening, General Mills
- Average salary: $1.2 million
- CEO takeover: 2017
7. Brendan Whitworth, Anheuser-Busch (BudLight brewer)
- Average salary: $12 million
- CEO takeover: 2021
8. Shane Smith, Smithfield Foods
- Average salary: $700,000
- CEO takeover: 2021
- Average salary: $1.6 million
- CEO takeover: 2017
10. Brian Sikes, Cargill Inc.
- Average salary: $700,000
- CEO takeover: 2023