Indian-Origin man becomes world’s second-highest paid CEO after Elon Musk, his name is…
Shankh Mitra, the Indian-origin CEO of Welltower, ranked as the world's second-highest-paid CEO after earning a compensation package worth $821 million in 2025.
Indian-Origin man becomes world’s second-highest paid CEO after Elon Musk, his name is…
Shankh Mitra, who is currently serving as the CEO of US-based healthcare real estate giant Welltower, has made news all over the world by becoming the second-highest-paid chief executive in the world. He received a compensation package worth USD 821 million in 2025, making him the second-highest-paid chief executive in the world after Elon Musk, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Interestingly, Mitra's pay package was only surpassed by SpaceX's chief. The compensation package of Musk is USD158 billion.
The payouts showcased a major recovery in executive compensation, with more CEOs receiving packages which surged to nine-figure in recent years. According to the report, 2025 witnessed highest number of executive earning USD 100 million or more since 2021. 12 CEOs crossed the USD200 million compensation mark.
Shankh Mitra Education Qualification
Mitra studied engineering at Kolkata's Jadavpur University. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering.
He then moved to the US and earned an MBA degree in Applied Value Investing from Columbia Business School.
Shankh Mitra's Career Journey
Before Welltower, Mitra served performed senior investment roles at companies like Millennium Management and Citadel LLC. Here he mastered real estate securities and managing investment portfolios.
Mitra joined Welltower in 2016. He was promoted as chief investment officer in 2018 before taking over as CEO in 2020. During his appointment, Welltower's lead independent director Jeffrey H. Donahue talked about Mitra's exceptional leadership skills and praised his "investing and operational acumen".
Majority Of Pay Came Through Stock Awards
Instead of a traditional salary package, almost all of Mitra's compensation came via company shares.
Talking about his package around USD789 million, was directly linked to a stock award issued in October. By the end of the year, the value of the stocks surged by USD1 billion. The reason behind the exponential surge was the company's stock performance.
However, the payout depends on long-term goals. Mitra can receive about half of the shares in 2031 only if he continues working at Welltower.
The rest of the shares will be given to him when the company meets its strict performance targets, including its market value of 45 percent.
Another Indian-Origin Executive Enters Top-Paid CEO List
According to the report, three other companies' executives received compensation packages exceeding USD100 million. This put Welltower in the rare list of companies that pay four executives over USD100 million in the same year.
Other top-paid executives on the list were George Kurtz, who earned USD 248 million, Hock Tan (USD 205 million), David Zaslav (USD 165 million), and Stephen Schwarzman (USD 126 million). Musk topped the list, followed by Mitra.
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