Executive Compensation Critics have charged that compensation to top managers in the United States is simply too high and should be cut back. For example, focusing on large corporations, Larry Ellison of Oracle has been one of the bestcompensated CEOs in the United States, earning about $130 million in 2010 alone and over $1 billion during the 2006 – 2010 period. Are such amounts excessive? In answering, it might be helpful to recognize that superstar athletes such as Tiger Woods, top earners in the entertainment field such as James Cameron and Oprah Winfrey, and many others at the top of their respective fields earn at least as much, if not a great deal more.