Shankh Mitra, an Indian-origin US citizen and the CEO of Welltower, a publicly listed US real estate investment trust, has emerged as the world’s second-highest-paid chief executive after receiving a compensation package worth $821 million in 2025, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). He ranks just behind Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose compensation was reported at $158 billion.
The WSJ report points to a strong resurgence in executive pay after a slowdown in recent years. It notes that more CEOs earned at least $100 million in 2025 than in any year since 2021, with nearly a dozen executives receiving packages above $200 million.
Mitra’s career began in Kolkata, where he earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering from Jadavpur University, according to The Times of India. He later moved to the US to pursue an MBA in Applied Value Investing from Columbia Business School, which helped shape his career trajectory in global finance.
He started his professional journey at PwC, where he worked for five years, before joining Fidelity Investments as an analyst in 2009. He subsequently held investment roles at Citadel and Millennium Management, focusing on real estate securities and portfolio management.
In 2016, he joined Welltower, an S&P 500-listed company specializing in senior housing and healthcare real estate. He was promoted to Chief Investment Officer in 2018 and became CEO in 2020, according to the WSJ. At the time of his appointment, Welltower’s Lead Independent Director Jeffrey H Donahue praised his “investing and operational acumen” and said his leadership had strengthened the company’s position.
Mitra told the WSJ he felt “humbled and honoured” to lead the organisation and thanked the board and colleagues for their trust.
Almost 99% of his compensation came in the form of stock awards. His package included a $789 million stock grant issued in October, with the value of the shares rising above $1 billion by year-end.
The compensation is tied to long-term performance goals. He is expected to receive about half the shares in 2031 if he continues with the company, while the remainder will vest only if Welltower increases its market value by 45% and outperforms major stock indices over five years.
The WSJ report also highlighted that several other Welltower executives received compensation exceeding $100 million, making it only the second company in the past decade to have four executives cross that threshold in a single year.
Alongside Musk and Mitra, other top-paid CEOs include George Kurtz with $248 million, Hock Tan with $205 million, David Zaslav with $165 million, and Stephen Schwarzman with $126 million. Another Indian-origin executive, Nikesh Arora, also appeared in the top 10, ranking eighth with compensation worth $100 million at Palo Alto Networks.
