Ford CEO Alan Mulally Receives $34.5 Million Shares: 5 Highest Paid CEOs

The compensations earned by CEOs have once again come to forefront with the recent announcement that Ford CEO Alan Mulally received $34.5 million worth of shares, as disclosed by the company in a regulatory filing Tuesday.

However, Mulally is certainly not the highest paid CEO. Check out below the five highest paid CEOs.

1. John H Hammergren

He is the Chairman, president, and CEO of McKesson Corporation, the largest pharmaceuticals company in the world. According to GMI's 2011 CEO Pay Survey released in December 2011, he earned over $145 million last year and most of it from stock options. Hammergren has an MBA from Xavier University and a BA in business administration from the University of Minnesota.

2. John C. Plant

He has been chairman of the board of TRW Automotive Holdings Corp, an Auto Components company, since February 2011 and president and Chief Executive Officer as well as a member of our board of directors since February 2003.

According to GMI's 2011 CEO Pay Survey, he earned over $76 million last year. He has a B.Com degree from University of Birmingham.

3. Frank Coyne

He is chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Verisk Analytics, an American financial services firm. In 2000, he was elected president and chief executive officer and became chairman in 2002.

According to GMI's 2011 CEO Pay Survey, he earned over $69 million last year. He has a bachelor's degree in political science, magna cum laude, from the University of Scranton and a law degree from Duquesne University.

4. Thomas M. Ryan

He is the president and chief executive officer of CVS Caremark Corporation, which is an American drug retailing company. According to GMI's 2011 CEO Pay Survey, he earned over $68 million last year. He has a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island.

5. Ralph Lauren

He is the founder and chief executive officer of Polo Ralph Lauren. According to GMI's 2011 CEO Pay Survey, he earned over $66 million last year. Going by Forbes, he is worth $7.5 billion as of March 2012.