Crain's analyzed data from Standard & Poor’s on metro Detroit executives' compensation. Here's what we found:
For many CEOs of publicly traded companies in Southeast Michigan, 2021 was something of a makeup year to right the ship after the lost COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020. Many of those CEOs also saw solid bumps in their compensation.
From salaries to stock awards and other executive perks, CEO pay is largely on an upward trajectory once more.
Following is a breakdown of the compensation made available to many of the region's highest-profile executives:
Booth, 54, took over as CEO of the Southfield-based subprime automotive lender in May 2021, after more than 15 years as the company's chief financial officer. He succeeded longtime CEO Brett Roberts.
Booth topped out this year's list of top-paid public company executives in metro Detroit, bringing in total compensation of more than $30.5 million, most of it in the form of stock option awards. Over the last year, the company's stock (NASDAQ: CACC) has climbed by more than 33 percent.
From 2020 to 2021, the company saw its net income more than double, growing from $421 million to more than $958 million, and around the time Booth took over, reached a $27 million settlement with the Massachusetts attorney general over allegations it made deceptive loans, misled investors and engaged in unfair collection practices.
Booth's compensation stood at 459 times that of the median worker's salary at Credit Acceptance, listed at $66,446.
Barra, 60, again cracks the top five of metro Detroit's highest-paid public company CEOs. The head of the Detroit-based automaker saw her total compensation jump about 23 percent from 2020 to 2021, hitting more than $29 million last year, when the automaker recorded a record profit of more than $10 billion.
Barra's compensation last year consisted of a $2.1 million base salary, more than $14.5 million in stock awards, more than $7.6 million nonequity incentive payments and awarded options totaling nearly $4 million.
The CEO's salary stood at 420 times that of the median GM worker's salary of a little more than $69,000.
As chief executive of the Dearborn-based automaker since late 2020, Farley has made headlines for steering Ford toward its electric future, and in doing so, investing billions of dollars in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Farley, 59, has quickly made his way up the list of top-paid metro Detroit public company CEOs. In 2021, the executive earned more than $22.8 million, which included a base salary of $1.7 million, $16 million in stock awards and various other forms of compensation.
While Ford stock (NYSE: F) is down nearly 6 percent over the last year, Farley helped the company turn a corner after a rough 2020, going from a loss that year of nearly $1.3 billion to posting a profit of almost $18 billion last year.
Farley's salary was listed as 356 times that of the median salary at Ford, listed as $64,000.
Lissalde, president and CEO of the Auburn Hills-based auto supplier since 2018, saw his pay nearly double from 2020 to 2021, hitting $17.6 million last year. Over that same time, the company's net income grew from $500 million to $537 million.
Lissalde's compensation last year consisted of a $1.26 million salary (up from $1.1 million the previous year), as well as more than $13 million in stock awards, $2.5 million in nonequity incentive and retirement payments, and more than $814,000 in "other compensation."
The CEO's total compensation was listed as 554 times that of the median employee at BorgWarner, who made $31,740.
Brown, in his seventh year as the chief executive of the Detroit- and Charlotte, N.C.-based auto lender, saw his pay increase by more than one-third from 2020 to 2021. During that same time period, Ally's net income rose from $1 billion to more than $3 billion.
Brown's compensation consisted of a $1 million salary, $4.9 million bonus and about $9.6 million in stock awards.
The compensation earned by Brown last year was 146 times that of Ally's median employee, who is listed as making about $106,000 annually.
The top executive of the Ireland-based automotive supplier with operations in Troy saw his pay drop by more than half from 2020 to 2021, earning about $14.7 million last year.
The pay cut largely stems from a 57 percent drop in stock options, year-over-year, which were $12.3 million in 2021.
Clark's total compensation was listed at 1,992 times that of the median worker at the supplier, which comes to about $7,400.
The biggest pay raise of the 10 highest-paid public company CEOs in metro Detroit went to William Febbo, the CEO of Rochester-based OptimizeRx.
Febbo's total pay surged by more than 1,000 percent from 2020 to 2021, hitting more than $14.6 million last year, with a base pay of $410,417. Febbo's stock awards grew from about $639,000 in 2020 to more than $13.58 million last year.
During that same time, the health care technology company went from a $2.2 million loss to $378,080 in profit.A median worker-to-CEO pay ratio was not available.
The CEO of automotive supplier Adient since 2018 got a pay bump of just more than 26 percent from 2020 to 2021, hitting just over $14.2 million last year.
Over that same time period, the Irish-domiciled company with operations in Plymouth rose from a $547 million loss to profits of more than $1.1 billion.
Del Grosso's pay last year consisted of a base salary of $829,500, stock options of almost $11.4 million and nonequity payments just shy of $2 million.
Del Grosso's compensation was listed at 758 times that of the median worker at the company, a figure that was not defined, but comes to about $18,789.
The longtime chief executive of the Southfield-based real estate investment trust saw a total pay boost of more than $2.5 million from 2020 to 2021, hitting just over $13.8 million last year.
During that time, the REIT's net income grew from more than $131.6 million to more than $380 million.
Shiffman's pay last year consisted of a salary of just over $850,000, stock awards of more than $11.17 million, and nonequity incentives of $1.8 million.
The CEO's pay stood at 776 times that of Sun Communities' median employee, who was reported as making just more than $32,000.
Allman, the top executive at the Livonia-based home improvement manufacturing company since 2014, saw his pay drop by about 4 percent from 2020 to 2021, with total compensation of about $13.4 million last year.
During that same time period, Masco's profits fell from $1.2 billion to $410 million.
The CEO's compensation last year consisted of more than $1.27 million in salary, $6 million in stock wards, plus roughly $6 million in other forms of compensation. Allman's total compensation was 267 times that of the median Masco employee, who was reported as making just over $50,000 annually.
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