The CEO of Axon Enterprises, an American company known for manufacturing tasers, is the highest paid in the world. His name is Rick Smith and he has a staggering net worth.
Rick Smith is currently the highest-paid CEO among major American executives, indeed, globally. According to the Wall Street Journal, in the ranking of the 10 highest-paid CEOs he ranks first with $164.53 million, followed by Lawrence Culp Jr. of General Electric with $88.95 million, Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone with $84.03 million, and Tim Cook of Apple with $74.61 million. All men, and all share a significant pay gap compared to their female counterparts. And this is no coincidence.
Rick Smith’s case is emblematic of the growing phenomenon of compensation tied to stock performance rather than base salary. His record compensation in 2024, primarily consisting of performance-related stock, underscores a model that connects executives directly and impactfully to shareholder interests. This approach has made Smith the highest-paid executive in recent history, surpassing even more prominent figures like Tim Cook and hedge fund leaders.
Who is Rick Smith and what does he do? Axon Enterprise CEO Biography
Rick Smith is co-founder and CEO of Axon Enterprise, the American company known for its TASER devices, body-worn cameras (body-cam), and digital solutions for law enforcement. A graduate of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Smith started his company in 1993 with the goal of reducing the use of lethal force by police.
His initial mission was to reinvent the TASER: once considered an unreliable weapon, Smith updated the design eliminating the use of gunpowder and using compressed nitrogen, making the device less regulatory-problematic and more accessible. After various business and financial difficulties—including bankruptcies, legal charges, and negative publicity campaigns—Axon (then Taser International) managed to overcome the crises thanks to the introduction of the Taser Cam, a video camera that was linked to the moment a TASER was drawn, to document potentially controversial events.
The real innovation came with the adoption of cloud technology: this was the birth of the Axon body cams and Evidence.com, a platform that allows for the secure storage, management, and digital processing of evidence, transforming the company from a manufacturer of non-lethal weapons to a provider of a complete public safety ecosystem.
Axon has now become a company with an estimated value of between $50 and $60 billion, thanks to explosive share price growth.
Smith has led the company since its founding and has shaped its culture: a "startup inside" approach where even employees can convert part of their salaries into shares, encouraging alignment between the interests of management and the operating team.
But Smith is not without a certain aura of mystery: a Reuters investigation found discrepancies in the personal narrative he often uses to explain Axon’s origins—the death of two high school friends—challenging the official version and denouncing the story’s exploitation for promotional purposes. Despite this, the company has always rejected these accusations, maintaining the integrity of its communications and governance practices.
Indeed, Rick Smith is not only a billionaire and somewhat controversial CEO, but also a visionary executive who transformed a small startup into a public safety technology giant, leveraging innovation, hardware-software integration, and performance-oriented compensation strategies.
Rick Smith’s Net Worth, the World’s Highest-Paid CEO
As mentioned, in 2024 alone, Rick Smith earned a record $164.5 million, confirming his position as the highest-paid CEO ever. Almost all of this comes from long-term equity incentives, tied to the achievement of financial and stock performance targets, distributed over a multi-year horizon (2024-2030).
His base salary is nominal—about $31,201—while the rest of his compensation consists of restricted stock packages, which can only be paid out upon the achievement of predetermined results. According to the AP (Associated Press), Axon’s business performance has seen revenue growth for three consecutive years (+30% annually) and record net profits of approximately $377 million in 2024. These results have helped more than double the value of shares, making Smith’s overall package extremely valuable.
This is a "high-risk, high-reward" compensation model: if Axon fails to meet its targets, Smith would not receive the stock awards.
This mechanism has been presented as a shared incentive: even lower-paid employees can participate in the stock conversion plan, while those earning less than $90,000 annually receive the awards unconditionally. However, critics point to the growing disparity between CEOs’ enormous compensation and average salaries, as evidenced by the fact that Axon’s CEO earns approximately 192 times more than the average worker, according to the AP.
Smith’s net worth is, therefore, strongly tied to Axon’s stock price success. His "realized gain" can fluctuate significantly based on market performance and the actual achievement of predetermined targets. In short: Smith earns little, Axon earns little.
Original article published on Money.it Italy. Original title: Chi è e quanto guadagna Rick Smith, il CEO più pagato al mondo
