Worth more than $3 billion at last count, President Donald Trump famously promised during the 2016 U.S. presidential to draw no salary should he be elected and, thus far, he's been keeping his promise, donating presidential pay in quarterly chunks to various government department such as the Department of Health and Human Services. Wondering how much the president makes exactly in his current job, and how his salary stacks up compared to other world leaders — and the average citizen who voted him in? British financial services firm IG Group has compiled an online comparative database of how various elected, appointed and lifetime leaders of OECD countries are compensated. Here's a look at one such measure, the annual salaries, in U.S. dollars, of the top 10 best-paid global leaders, and how many times the average per capita GDP of the nations they govern they earn.
By CNBC's Kenneth Kiesnoski. Sources: IG Group, Google/World Bank
Posted 26 April 2018
10. President Donald Trump, USA — $400,000
At $400K a year, Donald Trump pulls in about seven times the average U.S. per capita GDP of just under $57,467.
Sources: IG Group, Google/World Bank
9. President Alexander Van der Bellen, Austria — $404,466
A professor of economics at the University of Vienna before entering politics, Van der Bellen earns nine times the annual Austrian GDP of just over $44,176 per person.
Sources: IG Group , Google/World Bank
8. Chancellor Walter Thurnherr, Switzerland — $470,281
Originally trained as a physicist and long a member of Switzerland's diplomatic corps, Thurnherr takes home just under six times the average Swiss GDP of some $78,813 per person per year.
Sources: IG Group, Google/World Bank
7. President Alain Berset, Switzerland — $482,958
Berset earned a Ph.D in economics in 2005 with a dissertation on how migration on a global scale impacts local working conditions. He does marginally better salary-wise than his coworker in the Swiss chancellery, taking home just over six times the average Swiss per capita GDP.
Sources: IG Group, Google/World Bank
6. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Australia — $527,854
Turnbull has been employed as a merchant banker and venture capitalist, among other gigs. These days, he is paid about 10.6 times the average annual per capita GDP of Australia.
Sources: IG Group, Google/World Bank
5. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands — $1,094,391
Now, we're in the (royal) big leagues. King Willem-Alexander, who assumed the Dutch throne in 2013, is paid just under 24 times the annual Netherlands per capita GDP of about $45,295.
Sources: IG Group, Google/World Bank
4. Emperor Akihito of Japan — $3,086,890
The salary for sitting on the Chrysanthemum Throne comes in at a whopping 79.35 times the annual Japanese GDP of under just under $38,895 per person.
Sources: IG Group, Google/World Bank
3. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark — $13,547,516
An accomplished painter, Queen Margrethe makes a heck of a lot more as monarch — at almost 253 times the per capital GDP of Denmark — than she would churning out watercolors.
Sources: IG Group, Google/World Bank
2. King Philippe of Belgium — $14,454,440
King Philippe does way better than his royal Dutch counterpart Willem-Alexander just to the north, pulling in some 346 times the Belgian annual per capita GDP of about $41,096.
Sources: IG Group, Google/World Bank
1. Queen Elizabeth II, United Kingdom — $107,392,287
At 92 years of age, Britain's beloved Queen Elizabeth is in a league of her own when it comes to income. Her earnings add up to 2,660.4 times the per capita GDP of the United Kingdom. Sounds like a lot, but if the queen's salary were equally distributed across Great Britain and Northern Ireland, each citizen would only get £1.16, or $1.62 at current exchange rates, apiece.
Sources: IG Group, Google/World Bank
