Ameriprise CEO's pay was down 17% last year to $54.2 million

Ameriprise Financial has regularly outperformed other financial services companies both over the short term and long term. That outperformance is one reason that chief executive Jim Cracchiolo is among the highest compensated executives of Minnesota-based public companies each year.

Total compensation: $54,176,552

Notes: Ameriprise spun off from American Express in September 2005, and Cracchiolo, 63, has been the only CEO since. His compensation package has always included a mix of long-term equity awards, including options that typically have 10-year expiration dates.

In 2022, his total compensation including exercised stock options and stock awards that vested was $54.2 million, down 17% from the $65.5 million he realized in 2021.

For the most part Cracchiolo has waited until options were set to expire before exercising them, realizing the most value as possible.

In 2022, $43.3 million of Cracchiolo's compensation came from previously issued stock options he exercised and restricted stock that vested during the year. In 2021, he realized $57 million from those long-term equity awards.

Since the spin-off Ameriprise stock has outperformed its financial services peers over three-, five- and 10-year time periods. That's helped increase the value of his equity awards. In 2022 when the broader S&P 500 index was down 18% and the S&P Financials Index was down 11% Ameriprise's total return was a positive 5%.

Cracchiolo was granted new equity awards in 2022 — options, restricted stock awards and performance-based stock awards — with a combined grant date value of $13 million.

Cracchiolo also earned an $8.1 million annual incentive bonus, a 20% increase over the prior year, as Ameriprise exceeded its financial targets for revenue, earnings, EPS and return on equity in 2022.