Business
Meet Shankh Mitra: Indian-Origin CEO Who earned $821 Million in 2025, Second only to Elon Musk
Welltower CEO Shankh Mitra ranked as the second highest-paid chief executive among S&P 500 companies, with most of his compensation tied to long-term stock performance.
New York: Shankh Mitra, an Indian-origin business leader and the Chief Executive Officer of Welltower Inc., has emerged as one of the world’s highest-paid corporate executives. According to The Wall Street Journal’s latest executive compensation rankings, Mitra received a compensation package worth $821 million in 2025, placing him second only to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
While Musk topped the list with a reported compensation package of $158.4 billion, Mitra’s earnings have attracted global attention for their size and unique performance-linked structure.
From Kolkata to Wall Street
Born and raised in India, Shankh Mitra completed his Bachelor’s degree in Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering from Jadavpur University in Kolkata before moving to the United States to pursue higher education.
He later earned an MBA in Applied Value Investing from Columbia Business School, laying the foundation for a successful career in finance and investment management.
Mitra began his professional journey at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) before moving into investment research. Over the years, he worked with leading financial institutions, including Fidelity Investments, Citadel Investment Group, and Millennium Management, building expertise in real estate investments, portfolio management and financial strategy.
ALSO READ : SEBI rejects Anil Ambani’s settlement plea in Reliance Infrastructure case, Investigation to continue
He joined Welltower in 2016 and was appointed the company’s Chief Executive Officer in October 2020.
Why His Compensation Is So High
Although the headline figure stands at $821 million, it is not a conventional salary.
Around 99% of Mitra’s compensation came in the form of stock-based awards, including a grant worth nearly $789 million awarded in October 2025.
By the end of the year, the value of those shares had crossed $1 billion, reflecting Welltower’s strong market performance.
However, the stock awards come with strict conditions. Approximately half of the shares will vest only if Mitra remains with the company until 2031, while the remaining portion depends on Welltower achieving ambitious financial targets, including a 45% increase in market value and outperforming several major stock market indices over the next five years.
A Landmark Year for Executive Pay
The latest executive compensation rankings indicate that 2025 witnessed a significant rise in remuneration for corporate leaders.
According to the report, more CEOs crossed the $100 million compensation mark than in any year since 2021.
Welltower also stood out because three other senior executives at the company received compensation packages exceeding $100 million, making it one of the few publicly listed companies to have four executives earning at that level in a single year.
Another Indian-Origin Leader in the Global Top 10
The rankings also featured Nikesh Arora, the CEO of Palo Alto Networks, who secured a place among the world’s highest-paid executives with a compensation package of $100 million.
The achievements of leaders like Shankh Mitra and Nikesh Arora continue to highlight the growing influence of Indian-origin professionals at the highest levels of global business and corporate leadership.
