How Much Does the CEO of Costco in 2024?

Costco is an American multinational retail corporation that sells groceries, prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine. It’s the 4th largest retailer in the United States, next to Kroger. Costco’s President and CEO are Craig Jelinek. The Costco CEO salary at Costco are much higher than you would think. Find out how much Costco executives make below!

Costco Wholesale Overview

Costco Wholesale Corporation is the world’s biggest wholesale club operator. Under the Costco Wholesale brand, the company operates more than 590 membership warehouse stores that serve approximately 64 million cardholders in 40 states in the United States as well as Australia, Canada, Japan, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom, primarily in the United States. 

Approximately 4,000 goods (many in bulk packaging) are available at discounted rates at the stores, which include alcoholic drinks, appliances, fresh food, medications, and tires, among other things. A variety of additional goods and services are available via some club memberships, including vehicle and house insurance, mortgage and real estate services, and vacation packages.

  • Visit our website at http://www.costco.com to learn more about our products and services.
  • The company has 288,000 workers
  • Founded in 1976
  • Type: Public Company (COST)
  • Industry: General Merchandise & Superstores
  • Revenue: $192 billion (USD)

The CEO of Costco

Craig Jelinek has been the president and CEO of Costco since 2012.

image source : retailinsider.b-cdn.net

Who is Craig Jelinek?

Craig Jelinek is the President and CEO of Costco. He has been the CEO since 2012 when he took over from James Sinegal. Before becoming CEO, Jelinek served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Senior Vice President of Merchandising.

Why do Costco executives earn so much?

Costco executives have to have extensive knowledge of the company, the industry, and the economy. The knowledge they possess is invaluable to Costco, which has a large stake in the current economy. It’s not easy to come by someone who has this sort of experience. That’s why Costco CEO salary make such high pay.

Craig Jelinek, the President, and CEO of Costco earn $1,032,885 million a year as his base salary. There are many other executives at Costco that makeup to $4 million a year as well. According to Glassdoor, those salaries are on par with similar positions at other companies like Walmart.

It seems like it might be worth it for all these executives to make such high salaries considering how much their company has grown since its founding in 1976. Costco now operates over 795 warehouses internationally and there are more than 113 million members that belong to Costco. These numbers only show how much good these executives have done for their company!

What is the salary for a Costco executive?

The costco ceo salary earned a total compensation of $8,595,381 during his tenure as President and Chief Executive Officer of COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP. Of this amount, $1,032,885 was received as a salary, $460,000 was received as a bonus, $0 was obtained in stock options, $7,049,636 was granted as stock, and $52,860 was received in other forms of compensation, bringing the total to $1,032,885. 

All of this information is based on proxy statements that were submitted for the fiscal year beginning in 2021.

How does Costco manage to keep prices low?

Costco can keep its prices low by cutting out the middleman, which includes wholesalers and distributors. This allows them to save on costs, which they pass on to their customers in the form of lower prices. Costco also has a hard time trying to maintain low prices because they are known for their bulk shopping sizes. This means that they need to buy more goods at one time, which can lead to higher costs.

Fortunately for the company, Costco has no problem with employee turnover because of employee satisfaction and the benefits offered by the company. These things make it worth staying at Costco even when you could make more money elsewhere.

Conclusion

Costco headquarters are located in Issaquah, Washington. Most Costco CEO salaries are higher in comparison to those earned by their counterparts at other shops. That they spend their money wisely is more important than how much they make, according to experts. 

While executive salaries at Costco are low, bonuses and stock options account for a larger portion of their income. Executives from other shops, on the other hand, get a greater base pay but receive less in the way of incentives and equity compensation.

Compared to Costco executives, CEOs of other retailers usually get a basic salary that is twice as high as that of a Costco executive. However, they do not have access to bonuses and stock options, which may increase an executive’s total earnings to five times that of a Costco executive. The benefits and drawbacks of both compensation structures are generally well-documented. It all depends on the kind of outcomes you want from your personnel.