Shankh Mitra, an Indian-origin US citizen and CEO of Welltower, a publicly traded American actual property funding belief, has grow to be the world’s second-highest-paid chief govt after receiving a compensation bundle price $821 million in 2025, in line with The Wall Road Journal (WSJ). Mitra is second solely to Tesla boss Elon Musk, whose compensation bundle was valued at $158 billion.
The WSJ report highlights a robust rebound in govt compensation after a slowdown in recent times.
Extra CEOs earned not less than $100 million in 2025 than in any 12 months since 2021, whereas almost a dozen executives obtained pay packages exceeding $200 million.
SHANKH MITRA’S JOURNEY BEGAN FROM KOLKATA
Mitra’s journey to the highest spot started in Kolkata, the place he accomplished a Bachelor of Engineering in Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering from Jadavpur College, in line with The Instances of India newspaper.
The Welltower CEO later moved to the US to pursue an MBA in Utilized Worth Investing from the Columbia Enterprise College, laying the muse for a profession that will take him to the highest of company America.
Mitra began his skilled profession at PwC, one of many world’s largest skilled companies networks, the place he labored for 5 years earlier than becoming a member of Constancy Investments as an analyst in 2009.
He later held funding administration roles at Citadel and Millennium Administration, specialising in actual property securities and portfolio administration.
MITRA’S INVESTING ACUMEN PRAISED BY TOP EXECUTIVE
In 2016, Mitra joined Welltower, an S&P 500 actual property funding belief centered on senior housing and healthcare properties. He was promoted to Chief Funding Officer in 2018 and have become the corporate’s Chief Government Officer in 2020, in line with the WSJ report.
The WSJ report additionally famous that on the time of Mitra’s appointment, Welltower’s Lead Impartial Director, Jeffrey H Donahue, praised Mitra’s “investing and operational acumen”. Donahue additionally hailed Mitra’s management and mentioned that Mitra had positioned the corporate able of power.
Responding to his promotion, Mitra advised the WSJ that he was “humbled and honoured” to guide the corporate and thanked the board and his colleagues for his or her confidence.
Practically 99% of Mitra’s compensation got here within the type of inventory awards. His bundle included a $789 million inventory grant issued in October, and by the top of the 12 months the shares linked to that award had appreciated to a price of greater than $1 billion, the WSJ report revealed.
The compensation given to Mitra is, nonetheless, linked to long-term efficiency. Mitra is anticipated to obtain roughly half of the shares in 2031 if he stays with Welltower.
The remaining shares will vest provided that the corporate will increase its market worth by 45% and outperforms a number of main inventory market indices over 5 years.
ANOTHER INDIAN-ORIGIN EXECUTIVE GOT A PACKAGE WORTH $100 BILLION
The WSJ report additionally famous that three different Welltower executives obtained compensation packages price greater than $100 million every, making the corporate solely the second up to now decade to have 4 executives obtain nine-figure pay packages in a single 12 months.
In addition to Musk and Mitra, the listing of the world’s highest-paid CEOs consists of George Kurtz, who earned $248 million, Hock Tan with $205 million, David Zaslav with $165 million, and Stephen Schwarzman with $126 million.
One other Indian-origin govt, Nikesh Arora, additionally featured among the many prime 10, rating eighth with a compensation bundle price $100 million by Palo Alto Networks.
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