Pay rates vary significantly among the convenience store industry’s top executives — at least for those whose companies are publicly traded. 

Although many of these executives’ salaries only slightly change from year to year, their total compensation packages include various stock- and equity-driven awards that fluctuate considerably. This means a CEO can make several millions more — or less — in one year than they did the previous, even if their base salary is the same.

In 2023, executives from some of the largest publicly traded c-store retailers saw sizable jumps in their earnings because of these incentives.

Here’s how the CEOs at some of the top publicly traded c-store retailers got paid last year, according to C-Store Dive’s analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission documents. As we noted in last year’s version of this story, 7-Eleven is omitted from this list since its parent company, Seven & i Holdings, doesn’t list individual earnings of its executives in its investor reports.

Brian Hannasch
Alimentation Couche-Tard
$18 million

After seeing his total earnings dip in fiscal 2021 and 2022, Brian Hannasch saw a major pay raise last year as his compensation surged to $18 million, according to Couche-Tard’s latest proxy statement. This marked Hannasch’s highest yearly earnings since being named president and CEO of Couche-Tard, parent company of Circle K convenience stores, 10 years ago. His previous highest earnings came in 2015 when he garnered $13.4 million. 

Two notable areas where Hannasch saw tremendous financial growth from 2022 to 2023 were in his performance-based company share units, which grew by $2.4 million; and a “special bonus” of over $2.4 million he received in 2023 from hitting the company’s five-year EBITDA target.

Eric Slifka
Global Partners LP
$15.6 million

Eric Slifka, Global Partners’ president and CEO since 2005, also saw a big pay bump in fiscal 2023. The executive garnered $15.6 million, outpacing the $11.5 million he earned in 2022, according to Global Partners’ annual 10-K filing. 

Slifka has seen a major jump in his earnings over the past few years, having previously made $6.5 million and $5.5 million in 2021 and 2020. Similar to his pay boost from 2022, Slifka earned several million dollars this year in various “unit awards,” which didn’t apply to his earnings in 2021 and 2020.

Darren Rebelez
Casey’s General Stores
$10.6 million

Darren Rebelez, president and CEO of Casey’s since 2019, earned about $1.6 million more during fiscal 2023 than in 2022, according to the convenience retailer’s latest proxy statement. While there was a small boost in his salary and non-equity incentive plan compensation, Rebelez saw the biggest year-over-year increase in his stock awards, which grew by about $1 million over the past year. Rebelez’s highest earning year since becoming CEO was still in 2020, when he made $11.3 million.
 

Andrew Clyde
Murphy USA
$10.6 million

Andrew Clyde, who has been president and CEO of Murphy USA since 2013, hasn’t seen much change in his yearly earnings over the past two years. The executive saw a $200,000 bump in his total compensation between 2023 and 2022, reaching about $10.6 million in 2023, according to Murphy’s latest proxy statement. Clyde has now surpassed $10 million in back-to-back years after reaching the figure for the first time last year.

Wael Sawan
Shell plc
$9.8 million

Wael Sawan took over as CEO of Shell on Jan. 1, 2023. The executive earned about $9.8 million in his first full year leading the oil giant, which was a slight drop from what his predecessor Ben van Beurden made in 2022, according to the company’s 2023 20-F report. A significant piece of Sawan’s 2023 earnings was a $3.2 million bonus for Shell hitting certain targets as part of its long-term incentive plan.

Murray Auchincloss
BP p.l.c.
$8.1 million

Following the controversial exit of former leader Bernard Looney — who ranked atop this list last year — BP named Murray Auchincloss its CEO in January. Auchincloss had been serving as interim CEO since Looney’s resignation in September 2023, and BP’s executive committee agreed that Auchincloss’ salary should equal Looney’s $1.5 million, and that his bonus would be based on a pro-rated salary rather than his previous one when he was chief financial officer.

Auchincloss ended up earning $8.1 million in fiscal 2023. The previous year, when he was still chief financial officer, he garnered $6.6 million, according to BP’s latest annual report.

Avigal Soreq
Delek US Holdings
$7.7 million

Avigal Soreq earned about $7.7 million in his first full year leading Delek US Holdings. Soreq, who became CEO in March 2022, earned roughly $6.3 million in fiscal 2022 and about $581,000 in 2021 when he was CEO of Israeli airline company Al Airlines. 

Two notable factors in Soreq’s 2023 increased earnings are his salary, which more than doubled in the past year, and a $1.1 million bonus he received as part of Delek’s 2022 Delaware Gathering Acquisition. Soreq’s 2023 earnings were significantly less than what his predecessor, Ezra Uzi Yemin, earned in 2022.

Robert Espey
Parkland Corp.
$6.3 million

Robert Espey, president and CEO of Parkland Corp. since 2011, earned over $6.3 million in 2023, outpacing the $5.6 million and $5 million he made in 2022 and 2021, respectively, according to the convenience retailer’s 2024 annual report. Espey’s salary, his share- and option-based rewards and annual incentive plan earnings were all slightly higher in 2023 than in 2022, resulting in his year-over-year boost of about $600,000.

Arie Kotler
Arko Corp.
$6 million

For the first time since becoming president, chairman and CEO of Arko Corp. — parent company of c-store retailer GPM Investments — Arie Kotler saw a down year in his total compensation. The executive earned just over $6 million in fiscal 2023, which was a drop from the $6.7 million he earned in 2022 and the $6.4 million he made in 2021, according to Arko’s latest proxy statement.

While Kotler’s salary and stock- and option-based awards were all higher in 2023 than 2022, he received significantly lower earnings this past year as part of Arko’s non-equity incentive plan compensation. His 2023 compensation in that area was about $885,000 compared to the $1.7 million he made in 2022.

Charles Nifong
CrossAmerica Partners LP
$1.2 million

Charles Nifong has seen incremental increases in his total compensation since becoming president and CEO of CrossAmerica Partners five years ago. In 2023, the executive’s total earnings of $1.2 were nearly identical to what he made in 2022, with only about a $14,000 difference between the two years, according to the company’s annual 10-K filing.