The Best-Paid U.S. Executives Don't Work on Wall Street: Chart (BusinessWeek)

Nick Woodman, founder and chief executive officer of GoPro Inc., tops the list as the highest-paid executive in 2014. 

For U.S. executives, the road to riches doesn’t necessarily run through Wall Street. Among the country’s 200 highest-paid senior managers, those at consumer-discretionary companies were awarded an average $48.6 million. That’s more than 35 percent above the mean paycheck of their colleagues in the finance industry, according to the Bloomberg Pay Index, which ranks compensation using the most recent data as of a company’s fiscal year-end.

GoPro Inc. founder Nick Woodman tops the list with a $287.2 million pay package that made him the highest-paid executive for 2014, followed by Liberty Global Plc CEO Michael Fries, whose pay was valued at $139.4 million. Six of the 10 best-paid executives worked at consumer-discretionary firms, which include entertainment companies such as Discovery Communications Inc. and retailers such as TJX Cos.

The top-paid finance manager was William P. Foley, executive chairman of title insurer Fidelity National Financial Inc., with a $104.9 million package.