Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is the destination job for any technical person. A CTO is responsible for the overall technology strategy of a company, including the technology stack, product roadmaps, working with different department heads to find out their needs and building them solutions, and also working with the company CEO to deliver the company technology strategy and roadmap.
A tech focused company usually relies on a CTO more than any other role in the company.
So, how much money does a CTO make?
The average median salary of a CTO in America for 2016 falls in between $147,500 and $229,000.
Here is a list of CTO salaries in the top cities of the USA. Source: Glassdoor.
| City | CTO Salary |
| Atlanta | $137,622 |
| Austin | $138,613 |
| Boston | $181,541 |
| Chicago | $171,201 |
| Dallas | $149,518 |
| Denver | $142,075 |
| Houston | $139,289 |
| Las Vegas | $137,252 |
| Los Angles | $164,078 |
| New York | $176,166 |
| Orlando | $131,270 |
| Philadelphia | $141,740 |
| Phoenix | $136,114 |
| Richmond | $135,489 |
| San Francisco | $164,934 |
| Seattle | $144,734 |
| Washington, DC | $200,050 |
The three cities with top salaries are Washington, D.C., Boston, and New York.
How much money do top CTOs make in America? According to Glassdoor.com, here is a list of the top CTOs and their salaries in a few of the top companies
- Rasmus Norling, Poly Shield Technologies: $81.845 million
- Michael Schroepfer, Facebook: $12.558 million
- Neville R. Ray, T-Mobile US: $9.14 million
- Kevin L. Timmons, Cyrusone: $6.85 million
- Cadir B. Lee, Zynga: $6.185 million
- Peng Xiao, MicroStrategy: $5.55 million
It's not only CTOs from the list who make millions. CTOs of startups including Twitter, Facebook, Uber, and many others make millions a year.
That was the salary part. Here comes the good part.
Most of the CTOs also get stock options (or equity) in the company. As a matter of fact, if a company is a tech startup, CTOs do get a major portion of the company, depending on the stage of the company.
CTO Salaries in India
According to
Indeed.com, the median salaries of CTOs in India is Rs. 2,404,221 per year. The most paying cities for CTO jobs are Mumbai and Bangalore. The least paying city for the CTO job is Delhi.