Record-Breaking General Counsel Pay: $93.5 Million for Top Earner in 2025

General counsel compensation has reached an all-time high in 2025, according to a study released by Law.com Compass. This surge is largely attributed to volatile long-term stock awards and increasing recognition of in-house legal heads as valuable members of executive teams.

The top earners include technology and entertainment general counsels, with notable figures from Paramount Skydance, Broadcom, Palantir, Apple, Warner Bros. Discovery, Walt Disney, Cisco Systems, Adobe, Netflix, and Oracle making the list.

Matthew McQueen, the legal chief of healthcare real estate investment trust Welltower Inc., topped the list with a reported $93.5 million in 2025 earnings, largely due to $90.9 million in stock awards that vested after a 10-year waiting period.