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The Highest Paid CEOs of 2023

The chiefs of America’s biggest companies reached new pay heights in 2023 as stock awards swelled the value of compensation packages.

Half of the executives in a Wall Street Journal analysis made at least $15.7 million, a record for median CEO pay in the annual survey, with several making more than $50 million . Median pay for the same companies a year earlier was about $14.5 million .

Most of the executives received year-over-year raises of at least 9%—one in four got 25% or more—and most companies recorded annual shareholder returns of at least 13%, the Journal found in an analysis of data on more than 400 companies from MyLogIQ , a provider of public-company data and analysis. (See the full ranking below.)

Eight tech executives ranked among the 25 top earners, as did five each heading financial companies and media or entertainment companies.

Hock Tan , the highest-paid CEO in the Journal’s analysis at $162 million, has to stay on the job for five years and Broadcom ’s share price must reach certain targets after October 2025 to get the full value of most of his pay. Broadcom said the company has outperformed competitors under Tan, its CEO since 2006, and he won’t get more equity or cash bonuses for five years.

Pay for Nikesh Arora at Palo Alto Networks totalled $151 million, mostly in equity awards that included shares granted over three years.

Blackstone , where Steven Schwarzman made $120 million, said the company’s 83% total return surpassed U.S. asset managers last year and described its pay structure as aligning executive incentives with those of investors.

Christopher Winfrey of Charter Communications , the cable operator, received total pay valued at $89.1 million, largely in options and stock vesting over five years, and much of it only if the company’s shares rise 28% to 152% from when the grants were made.

A $30 million one-time retention and leadership award that vests over five years helped boost total pay for Fair Isaac ’s Will Lansing to $66 million. The company said its shareholder returns ranked among the top 1% of companies in the S&P 500 over the past decade.

Stock gains

Equity awards continued to make up the bulk of most executives’ pay, much of it structured to deliver more stock or options if the company meets financial or share-price performance over several years. That means the pay can lose considerable value if the company’s share price falls or operating targets are missed—or soar in value amid market and operating success.

Restricted stock awarded in early March last year to Jensen Huang , CEO of graphics-chip maker Nvidia , quadrupled in value through late January, to $107.5 million. Huang’s pay, originally reported at $34.2 million , included $26.7 million of restricted stock as valued at grant.

Under the terms of the award, Huang could receive 50% to 100% more shares than originally targeted if the company meets performance criteria, according to Nvidia’s proxy.

Nvidia’s share price tripled during the year.

Brian Niccol , CEO of restaurateur Chipotle Mexican Grill , received stock and options valued at $15.5 million when they were granted in February 2023 as part of a $22.5 million pay package. By the end of the year, that equity had more than tripled in value, to $52.2 million, the company said. Chipotle shares returned about 65% during 2023, and 18% a year over three years.

A Chipotle spokeswoman said the growth in Niccol’s equity-award value reflects the company’s strong share-price performance during the year. The company said the value Niccol ultimately realises depends on continued financial, operating and stock-market performance by the company.

Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger ’s equity awards last year also more than tripled in value by year-end, to $39.3 million. The company said in its securities filings that austerity measures last year reduced Gelsinger’s salary by about 15% to $1.1 million, which in turn reduced his cash bonus target by about 15%, to $2.9 million.

Overall, median cash pay for CEOs, including salary and annual bonuses, remained flat at about $3.8 million.

Top performers

Pay for CEOs running the best- and worst-performing companies didn’t vary dramatically. Median total pay was $14.6 million for the 20% of CEOs whose companies recorded the worst returns compared with other companies in the same sector, and $15.7 million for CEOs at the best-performing companies.

Chip and computer hardware makers accounted for six of the 25 best-performing companies—including Nvidia, the top performer—while four were in the travel or transportation industries. Several of the top performers bounced back from one or more years of poor returns, often tied to the pandemic.

Royal Caribbean Group reported paying Jason Liberty $17.2 million and recorded a total return of 162% last year, after posting minus 36% in 2022 and minus 43% in 2020, when the cruise industry was battered by illness and travel bans. (The company posted a 3% return in 2021.) Ride-sharing giant Uber Technologies recorded a 149% return after posting returns of minus 41% in 2022 and minus 18% in 2021.

Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices , ranked seventh by one-year performance, was headed by Lisa Su , the second-highest-paid woman in the analysis, at just over $30 million, including nearly $28 million in restricted stock and options. The highest-paid woman, at $31.55 million, was Julie Sweet of consultant Accenture , which posted a one-year total return of about 14%.

Thirty-one women ran S&P 500 companies for the full year of 2023, up from around two dozen at the beginning of the decade. None ranked among the top 25 by pay. One other woman ran one of the 25 best performers: Jayshree Ullal at networking company Arista Networks , which posted a 94% return. Ullal’s pay totalled $15.56 million.

Bottom of the pack

Among the 25 worst-performing companies in the Journal analysis, nearly a third operated in the healthcare sector, including six pharmaceutical or biotech companies. They were joined by four utilities.

Pfizer said it didn’t pay bonuses to top executives last year after weak demand for Covid-related products led the company to miss financial targets. The $17.5 million equity award that made up most of CEO Albert Bourla ’s total pay last year is meant to recognize his leadership and give him an incentive to focus on long-term strategy, the company said.

Poor performance can slash the value of CEO equity awards. Covid-vaccine maker Moderna reported total pay of $17.1 million for CEO Stéphane Bancel last year, including $12.5 million in stock and option awards.

The value of those awards fell 42% to $7.3 million at year-end, the company’s proxy shows, as Moderna’s stock price tumbled about the same amount for the year. In addition, equity awards made to Bancel in prior years fell in value by about $167 million during 2023.

Those losses offset a net $945 million in new equity awards and increases in value reported for Bancel during the prior three years.

Moderna declined to comment.

Methodology

The Wall Street Journal used data from corporate proxy statements filed through May 16 by companies in the S&P 500 index with fiscal years ended after June 30, 2023. The data was collected by MyLogIQ, a provider of public-company data and analysis.

Aggregate pay and shareholder-return figures exclude companies that changed CEOs or fiscal-year-end dates during the year.

Pay reflects the value of equity awards at grant, as reported by companies. Total returns reflect stock-price change and dividends, in most cases calculated from the month end closest to the company’s fiscal-year end.

Sources: MyLogIQ (compensation); Institutional Shareholder Services, FactSet (shareholder return); Standard & Poor’s (industry groups); company filings (pay for select companies)

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Scarlett Johansson Rebukes OpenAI Over ‘Eerily Similar’ ChatGPT Voice

Actress Scarlett Johansson criticised OpenAI over a ChatGPT voice she says is “eerily similar” to her own.

The tech company said Monday it was pausing use of the voice, known as Sky, so it could address questions about how it chose the ChatGPT voices. Many people online have drawn comparisons between Sky and Johansson, who voiced an artificial-intelligence assistant in the 2013 sci-fi romance “Her.” The actress said in a statement her closest friends couldn’t tell the difference.

Johansson said OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman wanted to hire her last year to provide her voice for ChatGPT’s current system. She declined. When the actress heard Sky, one of five voices the company offers for its AI tool, she said she was “shocked, angered and in disbelief” that Altman would use a voice so similar to hers.

Johansson said her lawyers asked Altman and OpenAI for more details on how they created Sky.

“In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity,” Johansson said.

The voice of Sky was never intended to resemble Johansson, Altman said in a statement Monday evening.

“We cast the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson,” he said. “Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky’s voice in our products.”

In a blog post Sunday, the company said it picked the five voices from more than 400 submissions from actors, looking for voices that sounded timeless and were easy to listen to.

OpenAI said Sky was the natural voice of another actress whom it hired and wasn’t an imitation of Johansson. It wouldn’t name the actress, citing privacy reasons.

The conflict with Johansson adds to the challenges confronting OpenAI, which has been sued by authors, artists and media companies for allegedly using their material without permission or payment. It also serves as a distraction at a time when OpenAI is trying to highlight new products and move beyond its leadership crisis last fall, when the company’s then-board of directors fired Altman for failing to be “consistently candid.” Altman was quickly reinstated as CEO.

OpenAI announced an updated ChatGPT voice feature a week ago. It builds on a product released in September that allows users to talk to its AI tool instead of type and hear responses in five different voices. OpenAI said users can have a more humanlike conversation with the new version, which responds almost instantaneously and can switch quickly between emotional tones.

The updated feature is part of a new AI system , called GPT-4o. It is the company’s latest attempt to attract more users and dominate the market for generative AI technology. The feature will be available to users who pay for ChatGPT-Plus, which costs $20 a month.

At the announcement last week, Altman likened the voice feature to something only seen in movies.

The CEO said in a speech last year that he and other OpenAI executives found inspiration in “Her,” which starred Joaquin Phoenix as a lonely man who falls in love with the voice assistant Samantha, voiced by Johansson. OpenAI employees posted references to the movie on X after the May 13 voice announcement. Altman posted a one-word tweet : “her.”

—Deepa Seetharaman contributed to this article. 

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We’re Spending Billions on This Work-From-Home Indulgence

Click. Scroll. Add to cart. Now toggle back to that Zoom meeting.

On our remote days, it turns out, we shop while we work. Researchers say it’s driving billions in online sales. There we all are, browsing everything from toothpaste to concert tickets while nodding along on a video call , keying in credit-card info in between dashing off emails to the boss.

Shopping away our entire workday is obviously a bad move. But indulging in a little isn’t going to tank productivity. We pause and procrastinate at the office, too, in ways that are acceptable there. At home, we gather around clothing reviews like we’re hanging out at the office water cooler, and tick errands off our list via Target.com.

With no one looking over our shoulders, we can puncture the monotony of another vanilla workday with the dopamine high of finding the perfect pair of shoes. Even if we might sometimes regret it.

“I wouldn’t have bought this stupid thing if it weren’t for All Hands,” Megan Morreale , a content marketer in New Jersey, thought to herself after purchasing an influencer’s branded candle during a companywide meeting. Bored or between calls, the 32-year-old scrolls Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Days later, subpar art supplies or a viral dress that really doesn’t suit her land on her doorstep. Oh well.

“It’s a little bit of fun during the day,” she says, without the fear you’ll look like a slacker . At the office, she would never. “All the guilt is completely gone when you work from home.”

A $375 billion boost

Our collective retail therapy adds up. New research from Stanford University, Northwestern University and the Mastercard Economics Institute, the payments company’s research arm, finds the pandemic prompted a rise in online shopping that’s persisted. Last year, for example, we spent $375 billion more than we would have otherwise, the report estimates.

The brunt of that bump is being driven by people working hybrid or fully remote schedules, says Nick Bloom , a Stanford economist and co-author. County-level data shows that in areas where work-from-home jobs are prevalent, online shopping is up, while it’s back to pre pandemic levels in places where more folks work in-person.

Along with walking the dog and getting a jump on dinner, workday shopping is a way to make efficient use of our time, Bloom says, and take advantage of the fact that we have more control over it at home.

“People just can’t work continuously without taking a break,” he says.

Get away without leaving your desk

At home, there’s freedom and time, but also often inertia.

“There’s no coffee break, there’s no somebody’s birthday,” says Ace Bhattacharjya , chief executive of a company that helps folks access their medical records.

Instead, there’s perusing a limited-edition sneaker drop, or collectible figurines on eBay, Bhattacharjya says, recalling some of his recent scrolling. Everything in stores looks the same these days, he finds, but online he can jump down a rabbit hole into random micro communities and inspiration. Turning his attention from the work on his computer monitor to e-commerce on his iPad Pro gives him a jolt of creativity and energy.

Besides, the lines between work and everything else have grown hazy. Bhattacharjya’s hours bleed into the weekends. That can feel like permission to wedge some personal stuff into the workweek.

Ooh, a sale!

Weekly online spending peaks from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays , as the workweek slows to its languorous end, data from Adobe shows. More than a quarter of women surveyed last year by shopping portal Rakuten said they typically shop online during work hours. For Gen Z, the share was 41%.

Jenny Hirschey , who runs an Instagram jewellery shop from St. Paul, Minn., was surprised to find about 80% of her sales are made during the workday.

“I get comments all the time like, ‘I’m running to a meeting but this heart charm is mine! Sold! I’ll pay you in 30 minutes,’” she says.

Big retailers have noticed the trend, too, says Liza Amlani , a retail consultant and adviser based in Toronto who’s worked with companies like Under Armour and Lands’ End.

Some of her clients are timing things like product drops and marketing emails around noon or 3 p.m.

“We know that you’re on your computer,” captive and craving a pick-me-up, she says.

Retailers have also ramped up their investments in online tech, and are flooding their websites with more product, she adds. Algorithm-powered recommendations are getting so powerful it can feel like they know your subconscious desires before you do. Oh, and did you forget about that item you halfheartedly popped in your cart? Here’s 20% off.

“You’re getting so much more of that reminder and that call to buy,” says Nancy Wong , a consumer psychologist at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The seduction of online shopping

Bricks-and-mortar browsing comes with unknowns and annoyances: traffic en route, long lines at the store, finding out what you want isn’t in stock.

In contrast, Wong says, clicking the buy button online brings a satisfying certainty, and a double hit of pleasure. There’s the immediate high of plucking the item from the virtual shelf—then, the anticipation of its arrival. Sure, that gadget might be a flop once it gets here. But it’s on its way.

“It’s so seductive,” says Michelle Drapkin , a therapist in New Jersey who works a hybrid schedule.

When she worked for a big healthcare company years back, she’d never dream of pulling up Amazon on her office computer.

On her work-from-home days now, she’ll sometimes flop on her bed with a laptop and check purchases off her to-do list. It’s relaxing, she says. “I can do something different than work that’s still productive.”

Some purchases, like groceries, keep her household running. Others, like a new dress for a Kentucky Derby party, feel like a treat.

By the time the purchase arrives, though, she’s usually forgotten what’s inside the box.

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The Properties High Interest Rates Can’t Touch

Don’t expect any fashion bargains on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, or New York’s Fifth Avenue. And property on these famous luxury shopping streets looks as overpriced as the clothes.

While the average commercial building is worth 20% less than in 2022, the world’s most exclusive shops have barely been touched by the highest U.S. and European interest rates in two decades.

Cartier’s Swiss owner, Compagnie Financière Richemont , recently bought a property on London’s Bond Street at a rock-bottom 2.2% rent yield. Similar to the way bonds work, the lower the rent yield, the richer the price paid. The Bank of England’s base rate is around double this level. Most investors these days wouldn’t buy real estate that generates less income than the cost of debt that might be used to purchase it.

Last month, Blackstone sold a luxury store on Milan’s Via Montenapoleone to Gucci owner Kering for a similarly eye-catching price. The building was part of a portfolio of 14 properties that Blackstone bought in 2021 for 1.1 billion euros, equivalent to roughly $1.2 billion. Kering coughed up €1.3 billion, or about $1.4 billion, for the Via Montenapoleone building alone, equivalent to a 2.5% rent yield.

The private-equity firm is understandably eager to do more deals like this, and has since bought another luxury store in London. It is a surprising focus for Blackstone, which for years steered clear of retail property.

Luxury rents are resilient, but they aren’t rising fast enough to justify such hefty price tags for the buildings. Last year, rents increased 3% on Rodeo Drive and were flat on Upper Fifth Avenue, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield .

What luxury retail properties do offer is scarcity. London’s Bond Street has 150 individual buildings, according to real-estate consulting firm CBRE . But because luxury brands are fussy about where they will open a flagship store, only around two-thirds of the street is considered posh enough, limiting their options.

Supply is even tighter on New York’s Fifth Avenue, where just four or five blocks of the six-mile avenue are ritzy enough to lure the world’s most expensive brands. The luxury shopping district of Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles has fewer than 50 individual buildings.

This creates intense competition for both space and ownership. The world’s biggest luxury company, LVMH , has more than 70 brands that need a foothold on prominent shopping streets. Increasingly, LVMH’s answer is to buy the best locations. The Paris-listed company owns at least six properties on Rodeo Drive and six on London’s Bond Street.

Luxury brands see their flagship stores as marketing tools. Counterintuitively, e-commerce has made its physical locations more important. Labels including Christian Dior have opened restaurants and mini museums in their boutiques to give shoppers an experience they can’t find online.

When they are investing this much money in refurbishments, it makes more sense to own than to rent . Luxury brands have spent more than $9 billion buying boutiques since the start of 2023, according to a Bernstein analysis, and they control increasingly larger tracts of major shopping districts. Back in 2009, brands owned 15% of the buildings on London’s Bond Street, says Phil Cann, an executive director at CBRE. Today, their share has jumped to 30%.

Luxury labels also need to avoid being kicked out of a property by a rival-turned-landlord, which is happening more often. British handbag maker Asprey was given its marching orders by Hermès on London’s Bond Street. The French brand bought the building that Asprey occupied since the 1840s and wants to convert it into an Hermès flagship. Rolex recently bought a store that is rented out to Patek Philippe, although its competitor doesn’t need to move out any time soon as there are still several years left on the lease.

Most luxury stores are still in the hands of sovereign-wealth funds or rich families who might have owned the buildings for decades. Given the enticing prices that brands are willing to pay despite high interest rates, more are considering cashing out.

Landlords from Hong Kong, who began parking their cash in luxury stores around 2010, are among those selling up. New York real-estate investor Wharton Properties also sold two Fifth Avenue buildings to Kering and Prada this year at very high prices that were equivalent to 2% rent yields. Wharton is experiencing some distress in other parts of its portfolio, so it might have needed to raise funds.

Luxury brands made huge amounts of money during the pandemic. Richemont currently has more than €7 billion of net cash sitting on its balance sheet. Merger and acquisition activity has been quiet, so real estate might be the next-best thing to pour their riches into.

Property deals on the world’s most expensive streets will continue to operate in their own twilight zone, no matter what central bankers do next.

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Homes in Bath, England, Feature Heavily in ‘Bridgerton’—and Command Robust Demand in Real Life

Bath has long been known for its genteel pleasures and civility.

It came to prominence 2,000 years ago as a religious spa where people worshiped the Roman goddess Sulis Minerva and bathed in the natural thermal spring waters that still flow with hot water today. In the early 1700s it re-emerged as a spa resort, attracting fashionable society as resident Jane Austen observed in her novels.

The city has come to the fore yet again thanks to the Netflix series “Bridgerton,” since many of its well-preserved heritage sites, stone-flagged streets and wisteria-clad mansions form a glamorous backdrop to the show’s high-society Regency world.

For instance, the city’s Holburne Museum acts as Lady Danbury’s townhouse. No. 1 Royal Crescent was used as the Featheringtons’s London home, while the Abbey Deli on Abbey Street was transformed into the Modiste dress shop, and Bath Assembly Rooms served as the venue for Lady Danbury’s ball in the first season. Glimpses of Bath, particularly its City Centre neighbourhood, are back as the first part of season three was released on Thursday.

Boundaries

Bath lies in the River Avon valley 97 miles west of London, between the Cotswold Hills and the Mendips. To the north, the city centre is bounded by Lansdown Road, to the east by the A46 highway, and the south by the A36 and the end of the Lower Bristol Road to the A4 highway. The river runs through the city, dividing it north from south, and there are four main bridges. The Roman Baths lie at the heart of the city, close to the great medieval church, Bath Abbey. The most iconic streets—some of which featured in “Bridgerton”—are the Royal Crescent and the Circus, which are a short walk from the baths and feature sweeping classical facades.

Price Range

David Mackenzie, partner at broker Carter Jonas, said the typical house price is £900,000 to £1 million, reaching up to £6 million for more expensive properties.

One- and two-bedroom apartments fetch between £200,000 to £400,000.

Prime prices cost about £1,000 per square foot, said Savills property consultant Christine Penny.

Housing Stock

Since Bath is a Unesco World Heritage City, its historical environment is protected, so it does not expand. The centre contains tall Georgian townhouses, while there is more modern housing on the infill sites created when the city was bombed during World War II. A Georgian townhouse usually has five stories and 100 stairs.

“They were built with entertaining in mind with large reception rooms, grand proportions, high ceilings, big windows and fireplaces. They have a doll’s-house look,” Mackenzie said. “Many have railings at the front and wrought-iron balconettes.”

The city is famous for its townhouses, like this one, on the market for £3.45 million with Carter Jonas.
Carter Jonas

Parking is at a premium; the Georgians built stables and coach houses at the back of properties but many have since been converted into residences. A garage can cost as much as £200,000 and a secure car-parking space £100,000.

Bathwick Hill and Weston Park also feature Regency villas that are individual in style, unlike the uniform feel of the monumental Georgian terraces.

“The Grand Tour of the day inspired the architects of that era because a lot of the houses will have beautiful pediments and columns that are almost Grecian in feel,” Penny said.

Villas are usually 5,000 to 6,000 square feet in size set within grounds of 0.5 to 1 acre. Such properties are rare, coming on the market once a year and can command between £3 million and £10 million.

What Makes It Unique

“Bath is a lovely mix of town and country life because it is such a small city, added to which it is very beautiful and very safe,” Mackenzie said, calling out the several bodies of water that cut through the city.“It’s very historic, but more recently what has attracted people to Bath is that it’s got very good schools and the University of Bath.”

This home in Bath is on the market for £4.895 million with Savills.
Savills

Former radio producer Penny Faux and her composer husband, Steven, moved to Bath from London with their young family. They were attracted by the city’s beautiful buildings, lack of urban sprawl and good schools. Faux also cited its vibrant arts scene as a draw.

“Bath punches above its weight, with good theatre and music festivals,” Faux said. “It’s also an international place, home to a university and many language schools.”

Bath also has good transport links, including an international airport and train connections into London in 90 minutes.

“It’s immensely attractive with period properties interspersed with lots of public space and parks,” Savills’s Penny said. “We have a university that attracts overseas students. We are a global destination.”

Luxury Amenities

Bath is a lively place with an excellent shopping centre and numerous restaurants, including the Michelin-starred Olive Tree. To relax, there is the Thermae Bath Spa with its natural springs, Royal Victoria Park and the Botanical Gardens on the edge of Royal Crescent. For sports, there are Tracy Park and Lansdown golf clubs to the north, and the Manor House Hotel golf club at Castle Combe.

The Roman Baths are at the heart of the city.
Getty Images

Bath has much to offer culturally with numerous art galleries and museums, as well as music, literary and film festivals. The Theatre Royal stages shows pre and post runs in London’s West End.

Among the top-ranked private schools on the north side are two day and boarding schools that enrol students from pre-kindergarten through high school: the Royal High School Bath school for girls and the co-ed Kingswood.

On the south side, King Edward’s School is co-ed day school geared toward pupils from pre-K to 12th grade. The co-ed Paragon School is for children aged three to 11. Prior Park College is a mixed Catholic day and boarding school for children ages 11 to 18.

Who Lives There

“Bath attracts people with connections outside of the area; a lot of people who work in London. People who move to Bath with their children tend to stay here, so we do have retirees,” Penny said.

There’s also an arts crowd in Bath that goes back to residents like writers Austen and Mary Shelley, Mackenzie said. “It’s also got a lot of academics who love its history, as well as high-net-worth individuals who come for the schools and because it’s safe, yet can get into London very quickly by train.”

Notable Residents

Mackenzie said the city is a lure for the famous because “you can blend in in Bath.” It’s been home at one time or another to many actors, from Indira Varma of “Game of Thrones,” to John Cleese and Nicolas Cage , according to published reports.

Royal Victoria Park is one of many places to relax in Bath.
Getty Images

Also from the arts, designer Manolo Blahnik reportedly made Bath his home 43 years ago and lives in a Georgian townhouse on Camden Crescent by architect John Eveleigh.

Outlook

Mackenzie said prices have increased 15% to 20% over the past five years. At present, it takes on average six to eight weeks for a home to sell. But Mackenzie said that properties in locations such as the Circus, the Royal Crescent, St James’s Square, Lansdown Crescent and Widcombe along the canal sell quickly.

“Property in Bath always holds its value because housing stock never increases, there’s never a flood of properties that come to the market,” he said.

“Bath stands its ground,” said Penny. She said the first quarter of 2024 had been very busy and the value of prime property rose in value 0.6% compared to the previous year.

Mackenzie said prices will remain stable in what is an election year but if a new government reduces stamp duty that may nudge prices up 5%.

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Futuristic Feng Shui-Designed Malibu Mansion Once Asking $57 Million Heads to Auction

A contemporary home designed with Feng Shui principles in Malibu that once asked $57.5 million will be auctioned in June.

The architectural home lies on the Pacific Coast Highway in Western Malibu, a surf spot known for its pristine beaches and celebrity owners. Concierge Auctions, which is handling the sale, expects bidding to open between $10 million and $19 million.

The long, narrow lot is about four-fifths of an acre and boasts 75 feet of private beachfront. Owner Wei-Tzuoh Chen, a California-based nephrologist, purchased the property in 2003 with his wife, Carrie Chen, for around $2.25 million. They originally intended to knock down the existing house and develop four condo units but then decided to keep the location for themselves as a vacation property.

Concierge Auctions

“I’ve lived in many beachfront houses in different parts of Southern California, but this is the finest sandy beach I’ve ever seen,” he said, distinguishing it from places where the water comes right up to the house during high tide.

The couple spent over six years building an 8,206-square-foot glass, steel and concrete residence with Malibu architect Ed Niles, who Chen said “spoke to his taste as a contemporary, not modern, architect.”

A native of Taiwan, Chen wanted to incorporate elements of Feng Shui into Niles’s signature futuristic design, inspired by the Guggenheim in New York City and the Broad in Los Angeles.

“I wanted a mini-museum in which to display my collection of Chinese antiques in a futuristic setting,” he said.

The property was previously listed in March 2023 at $57.5 million by Madison Hildebrand, president and CEO of the Malibu Life Team (and star of Bravo TV’s “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles”), along with Jennifer Chrisman of Compass,  Wendy Wong of Treelane Realty Group and Katherine Quach of Treeline Realty & Investment. The agents are collaborating with Concierge Auctions, which will launch the auction on its online marketplace in mid-June. It is currently listed at $42 million.

Concierge Auctions

The residence juxtaposes organic with geometric shapes; curved and straight lines mingle inside and out.

As shown in an aerial photo, it consists of a series of circles, semi-circles, triangles and rectangles. “There are basically eight different-shaped structures in a configuration,” Chen said, explaining that the number eight symbolises good fortune in Chinese numerology.

Integrating Feng Shui elements was accomplished in numerous ways.

“Feng means ‘wind,’ and the idea is to have air flowing throughout,” Chen said. “Based on a survey of the site, Niles designed it so that when you open the door on the ocean side, the breeze will circulate into every area of the house.”

He added that the architect also designed the house around the sun’s movement, capturing the ever-changing light via over 45 custom skylights. “The architectural perspective of the house shifts every minute of the day.”

Feng Shui also refers to the flow of movement, which starts from the street-side security gate, where a short driveway descends to the house below. “The concept of the Chinese home is to be unassuming from the front and then to provide a wow factor when you walk inside,” he explained.

Steps lead down to the glass-walled entrance with a soaring steel-paned glass ceiling. This spills into a cavernous space framed by massive architectural concrete walls and a floating bridge overhead. Two expansive sets of built-in stairs lead in different directions—one connects with a floating staircase to an upper level. The other flows into the ground floor living area and kitchen, with views to the horizon on two sides. A wall of frameless glass doors opens onto the back patio and an outdoor dining area.

Two separate upper-level spaces—one rounded, the other a triangle—jut out over the patio, creating covered sitting areas below. The round space comprises the primary suite, featuring a wood-panelled sleeping area and a marble bathroom with a cylindrical Japanese stainless-steel tub overlooking the ocean. A 50-foot bridge and short flights of stairs lead to three more bedrooms with private decks.

“Every split level has its own wing with an en-suite bedroom, so they are private with no shared walls, and everyone gets to take advantage of the view,” Hildebrand said. “The guest house is separate with its own private outdoor space.”

Concierge Auctions

Two marine-coated red steel sculptures in the back play on the shapes and number themes. One is an immersive red triangular sculpture that doubles as an enclosure for a small dining table; the other is a humanistic red figure-eight piece. Chen confirmed that both are part of the sale, as is a larger-than-life green butterfly sculpture at the entrance.

Inlaid rectilinear stepping stones cut a diagonal across the lawn to the sandy beach, bordered by large rocks. Although it is technically open to the public, Hildebrand said it is not easily accessible or widely known.

Beyond the interiors, the outdoor entertaining spaces—counting an in-ground fire pit with stone crescent benches—can accommodate up to 100 guests. Six uncovered parking spaces are available in addition to a two-car garage.

“It also has a tide pool where you can see sea urchins, mussels and other marine life on the rocks in ankle-deep water at low tide, which is also very rare here,” Chen said. “That’s the reason I chose this lot over others. It’s such a unique location.”

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The Power Move of Working the 5-to-9 Before the 9-to-5

As a competitive rower in my long-ago prime I sometimes used a racing strategy called fly and die. Sprinting to an early lead often yielded a fast overall time, even if I couldn’t hold my torrid pace through the finish line.

Some professionals take a similar approach to their desk jobs, starting their workdays with a 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. shift. They are up before the sun—and, more important, before their co-workers—to get a jump on the workday and impress the boss.

Nothing screams go-getter like a predawn email! Getting stuff done early allows them to clock out midafternoon and still look like stars, even if their routines require Ben Franklin-esque sleep schedules and vats of caffeine.

Melissa O’Blenis rises by 4:30 a.m. for prayer and Peloton time before starting her job at the digital consulting firm Argano.

“I just love checking things off my list,” she says. “I need that focus time away from Teams messages, email notifications and text alerts.”

A mother with two sets of twins, O’Blenis, 48, often breaks for her kids’ afternoon sports without feeling guilty or judged. Colleagues jokingly call her Granny because her 9 p.m. bedtime makes the early starts possible. But Granny got the last laugh when she was promoted to a director-level role in March.

More than 90% of knowledge workers want to flex their hours, according to surveys by Slack’s Future Forum . In the pandemic many of us got in the habit of handling personal commitments during standard business hours, then catching up on work tasks later .

Now that the office battle is largely over, fighting a return to rigid, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedules might be workers’ last stand. But managers complain about afternoon dead zones when employees are out of pocket.

The solution for more workers is starting sooner instead of finishing later. Workflow software maker Asana reports that 21.4% of users are logging on between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. this year, up from 19.8% in 2021. About 12% of work tasks are completed before 9 a.m., the company says, compared with 10% before the pandemic.

Early-bird bosses

Gibran Washington and his basketball teammates at Hofstra University used to run at 6 a.m. He maintained his early wakeups while climbing the ranks in food-and-beverage management.

By 9 a.m. meetings, he had already exercised, meditated and put in a couple of hours of work.

“I always found myself more prepared than my colleagues who hadn’t had their first cup of coffee yet,” says Washington, 40, who doesn’t drink coffee. Now he is chief executive of Ethos Cannabis, a chain of 12 dispensaries in three states, and rises as early as ever.

Waking and working ahead of the pack is a common CEO habit, from Apple ’s Tim Cook to General Motors ’ Mary Barra . Even if your ambitions are less grand than the corner office, starting early could help you stand out for one simple reason: The boss is probably up, too, and taking notice.

Matt Kiger says being the first one into the office helped him catch his manager’s eye and advance after changing careers from education to media sales. He would set his alarm for 5 a.m., hop a train from Connecticut to New York and be at his workstation before 7.

“I thought, ‘What is it going to take to break through?’” he recalls. “‘It’s going to take being there when my boss comes in, already at my desk making phone calls.’”

Now a senior vice president for digital sales at Townsquare Media , Kiger, 47, says much of the daily communication among company leaders happens by text and phone from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. It’s possible to succeed as a night owl, he says, but people who sleep in risk missing a window when many executives are awake and accessible. While some working parents can’t swing early-morning meetings, others like Kiger say they are the key to being present at kids’ after-school activities.

Getting the worm

Matt Sunshine—whose surname surely predestined him to be a morning person—wakes at 5:30 a.m. to read the news. Then he cycles or takes a Pilates class and is on his computer by 7.

Sunshine is CEO of the Center for Sales Strategy in Tampa, Fla., which helps healthcare, media and professional-services companies generate leads. He doesn’t expect his 55 employees to follow his schedule but says it becomes progressively harder to get his attention as the day goes on and his calendar fills up with meetings. He also tries to log off by 5:30 p.m. for family time, so working after hours won’t necessarily make an impression.

“If you want to get my attention, a good time to get me is first thing in the morning,” Sunshine, 55, says. “Because people know I’m an early riser, I think that does influence other people to do the same.”

Elvi Caperonis’s morning routine is next-level organised. Her alarm rings at 6 a.m. She goes for a run at 6:30. At 7 she showers and eats breakfast. At 7:30 she opens her laptop and sets a timer for 25 minutes. That’s her first block to focus on the most important task of the day before a five-minute break. She repeats the on-off work pattern throughout the day.

Caperonis, a technical program manager at Amazon , makes a daily to-do list with nine items. She rates one critical, three medium-level and five lower-priority. This helps her work efficiently and in the right order.

The 41-year-old works from home in Florida and often picks her daughter up from school at 2:30 p.m., freedoms she has preserved partly by being highly productive early in the day, she says. Much of her job involves identifying potential risks to a project’s success, and when she sends an early-morning alert it arrives really early for company leaders in the Pacific time zone.

“They appreciate having that information first thing when they open their email,” she says. “In my experience, leaders are also early birds.”

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Broken Chandeliers and Oven Fires: What Happens When a Real-Estate Pro Damages a Listing?

Mortgage

Have you ever accidentally damaged a client’s home?

Debby Belt, senior associate, Hammond Residential Real Estate, Chestnut Hill, Mass.

I was representing the seller of a four-bedroom Cape Cod-style home in Newton, Mass., just west of Boston. It was May 2016 and the house was listed for $929,000. It had a beautiful kitchen, with wood cabinets, granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances.

The house went under contract, and it was scheduled for a home inspection. I wanted the house to look pristine for the inspector and buyers, but the kitchen counters were cluttered, so I frantically threw things into drawers, and I put some glassware, baking tins and plates into the oven. When the inspector walked into the kitchen, he turned on the oven to test it without looking inside first. I was in another room at the time, but I smelled something burning, and then heard explosions as the glass shattered.

When I ran into the kitchen, I saw smoke and a small fire in the oven. There was broken glass all over the place, and the kitchen was smoky. Since it was a gas oven, it could have been much worse. The oven was damaged, and the seller wasn’t happy, so I gave her a $500 discount on the commission to offset any damage or credits she would have to give to the buyers. The buyers weren’t too upset, fortunately, because they were probably planning to update the appliances. The home ended up selling for $920,000 with the oven not functioning perfectly. Now, when I meet the inspector, we both still laugh about it.

Jeffrey Kahn, broker, Broker Associates Realty, The Villages, Fla.

In 1995, early in my real-estate career, I was representing the seller of a condominium in a luxury high-rise building on the ocean in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, just north of Fort Lauderdale. My seller had the mistaken impression that the dining room chandelier was excluded from the sale, so she had it taken down just before closing and replaced it with a less-expensive fixture.

When we did the walk-through the day before closing, the buyer noticed that the original chandelier, which was about 3 feet wide and custom-made from oyster shells and glass on a wrought-iron frame, was missing and, since the contract said that the unit was being sold furnished with everything included in the sale we needed to rectify the situation. The buyer was refusing to close because she loved the chandelier, and my commission—about $30,000, which I was going to split with the other agent—was in jeopardy. The original chandelier was packed in a box on the dining room table, and to make the deal happen, I told the seller I would replace her chandelier with a comparable one if we would rehang the original.

It wasn’t a difficult chandelier, and I’ve done a lot of electrical work in my own homes, so I took down the one hanging from the ceiling. As I started to remove the oyster-glass chandelier from the box, a hairless Sphynx cat jumped on the glass dining room table and rubbed against me. I had never seen a cat in the apartment during the entire listing process, so it scared the heck out of me. I dropped the chandelier, which broke, and I ended up having to pay $8,000 for two new chandeliers and electrician fees. Thankfully, the unit sold for $978,000 and my commission was sufficient to cover the costs. I was just happy the glass dining-room table didn’t break because then my whole commission would have been gone.

Joshua Garner, real-estate agent, The Agency, New York City

In October 2022, I was representing the owner of a Classic Seven co-op on the Upper East Side that was listed for $3.1 million. It had three bedrooms and 2,575 square feet of classic prewar details, with 13 windows and high ceilings. It also had the most particular seller ever. She trusted no one but myself to open up and show the apartment, and it took no less than 30 minutes to prepare and close up each time. There was a written checklist I had to follow, in a specific order, that included the proper angle at which to pull the string for the blinds, how to pick up and strategically fold, stack and put away the series of white sheets she had laid out as runners to protect the bedroom carpets and wearing shoe covers and gloves. She would watch everything from Switzerland via her security cameras and would call me to correct the smallest details.

Prospective buyers were told not to touch anything and to stay on designated walking areas, which were placed a distance from the Ming vases. If they wanted to see the interior of a cupboard or closet, I would refer to myself as Vanna White and would respond to what they instructed. I always warned them ahead of time that she was probably watching and that anything they said or did would be recorded. Buyers would enter with their guard up, which made it difficult. One day, after a showing, I couldn’t get one of the blinds to lower properly. I panicked, but I notified her immediately, and she had a maintenance worker inspect it. The cord had come off the internal spool, and even though it was a quick fix, the seller was livid and ready to withdraw the exclusive.

The only thing that saved the listing was offering to pay $300 to fully replace the mechanism to restore it to new condition. Although there were incidents that upset her during other showings, thankfully, nothing else was ever broken. This co-op, which ended up closing for $2.95 million in October 2023, was the most high-stakes deal I ever worked on.

—Edited from interviews by Robyn A. Friedman 

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Two Former Military Forts Floating off the Coast of England Head to Auction as Lavishly Amenitised Properties

For buyers interested in taking their home security to the next level, this pair of historic forts floating off the coast of England might suit.

The duo, dubbed No Mans Fort and Spitbank Fort, are nestled in the sea between the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth on the mainland and they’re headed under the hammer with Savills on June 18 with a guide price of £1 million (US$1.26 million) each.

Though both are currently used as hotels, each has pre-existing permission to be converted into a residential property for a buyer or buyers looking for the ultimate private escape.

No Mans Fort is a 35-minute boat ride from the mainland.
Savills

Both forts, which have previously been on the market for £4.25 million and £4 million, respectively, “offer an opportunity like no other; a waterfront location, up to 99,000 square feet of space and a chance to champion the heritage and legacy of these iconic maritime structures,” said Robin Howeson, head of Savills Auctions, in a news release.

Mansion Global couldn’t identify the owners, but according to Savills, they’ve held both of the unique properties for 12 years.

No Mans Fort is roughly a 35-minute boat ride from the mainland. Over its four levels, it has 23 bedrooms, plus staff quarters, a restaurant, bars, a traditional English pub, a rooftop terrace and a nightclub.

Spitbank Fort is a little closer to land, sitting in the mouth of Portsmouth Harbour, and spans three floors with nine bedrooms, a restaurant, bars, a wine cave, a games room, a pool and spa facilities. There’s also a scenic rooftop terrace, a sun deck and a fire pit.

Spitbank Fort has a rooftop terrace.
Savills

“Throughout my career as an auctioneer I’ve seen several sea forts hit the market that have achieved impressive prices,” Howeson said, calling such forts trophy assets. “I anticipate there to be a global interest from multiple buyer types looking to take the forts into their next chapter, whether that’s as a new commercial venture or residential home.”

In 2022, Savills auctions sold the unmodernized Bull Sandfort in the Humber Estuary on the east coast of Northern England for £490,000, nearly 10 times its guide price after worldwide competition from bidders in 27 countries, the firm said.

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Aston Martin’s Muscular Vantage Is a Combination of Sophistication and Aggression

Aston Martin builds all of its cars with a peak blend of performance and luxury. Still, their six-figure creations can lean more aggressively into one side or the other of that simple recipe.

For example, the DBD707 SUV hides a 4-litre V8 engine capable of 697 horsepower, but its overall size and endless creature comforts nuzzle a little closer to luxury’s embrace. The small-batch Valour muscles up on the performance scale with its prized manual transmission and 5.2-litre, 705 horsepower V12 power plant. Meanwhile, the recently redesigned DB12 is the company’s best attempt at splitting the performance-luxury gambit right down the middle.

Amid all of those supercar machinations, the Aston Martin Vantage sneaks away to play as the most performance-centric car coming out of the Gaydon, England, factory. Redesigned for 2025, the US$191,000 coupe reasserts itself as the most dedicated “driver’s car” in a very driver-friendly line. Should this be in pounds first?

During a road drive and speed testing event at Spain’s Circuito Monteblanco about an hour outside of Seville, the new Vantage proved itself as Aston Martin’s most accessible track-day companion.

Aston Martin is the most accessible day-track companion. Aston Martin

A first look at the latest addition to its very elite Warwickshire family pulls the eyes right to the newly extended rear wells that jut out around 21-inch, forged alloy wheels. While widening the car’s haunches, the wheel positioning reduces unsparing weight and gives the new Vantage a much more athletic pose.

Beyond that muscular base, the Vantage continues the modern Aston Martin styling tradition of riding the razor’s edge between aggression and sophistication. While the car’s Italian and Swedish rivals opt for prominent fins and big scoops, Aston’s designers keep the lines low, wide, and balanced from the signature highlighted grille to the understated aerodynamic spoiler.

In the performance specs department, the Vantage now packs an AMG-built, 4.0-litre, V8 twin turbo, front-mid mounted engine, capable of 656 horsepower, and a top speed of 202 miles per house and a 0 to 60 mph time of 3.4 seconds.

According to James Owen, Aston Martin’s senior manager of Vehicle Engineering, if the DB12 is the automaker’s distinguished overachiever, the Vantage is its less responsible, but equally attractive pugnacious sibling.

“The DB12 is a sports tourer and is positioned in the market as a GT,” Owen says. “It’s important for us to differentiate between Vantage and the DB12—to make sure that difference is clear for buyers and enthusiasts”

Owen describes the larger, pricier DB12 (starting MSRP of US$245,000) as more refined, while he considers the 2025 Vantage as playful and passionate. He even uses the word “brutish,” if such a term can be used for a technology-stuffed, six-figure sports car.

“The word that we keep hearing when talking about the Vantage is ‘fun,’” Owen adds. “That’s what we wanted to hear. We wanted to create a car that pulls at the heartstrings because it’s so enjoyable to drive. But, we wanted it to have a challenging character to it.”

Previous versions of the Vantage fit that punkier image. While always built for speed and powerful acceleration, the last couple editions of the Vantage were a little more harsh. The steering seemed more aggressive—demanding more input from the driver. The suspension felt tighter, deliberately transmitting more of the road’s surfaces and imperfections into the driver’s backside. If any current car in the Aston Martin line is a direct descendant of the automaker’s racing pedigree at Le Mans or in F1, it’s the Vantage.

Still, amid all this talk of driving fun and racing performance, Owen is quick to remind drivers that the Vantage is still an Aston Martin— steeped in the company’s signature identity of sophistication as the grownup’s more dignified supercar.

“The Vantage also has that added feature in its wheelhouse,” Owen explains. “Yes, it will respond to a driver pushing it in a racing scenario, but—with the technology we built into the car to stabilise the body at its most comfortable driver mode settings – the Vantage is still a very pleasant place to be.”

In keeping with such pleasantness, the interior of 2025 Vantage bears no resemblance to any race car. Handmade and stitched Haircell Leather stretches in all directions in any color the buyer prefers. The Sports Plus Seats are 8-way adjustable with heat or cooling on demand. The complete infotainment suite featuring the official Aston Martin Audio system from Bowers & Wilkins is a step up from the previous Vantage (and the current DB12).

The interior includes an infotainment suite featuring the official Aston Martin Audio system from Bowers & Wilkins. Aston Martin

Once the internal comforts and engineering feats come together, the experience behind the wheel is a sensual union of car and operator. Acceleration is smooth, yet immediate. The cornering is focused and nimble, and its rear-wheel drive allows for just enough play for the occasional drift at speed in turns.

A key piece of Aston Martin technology makes the Vantage’s elite performance potential accessible to more drivers. The ESP System (Electronic Stability Programme) debuted in the DB12, and the Vantage adopts the tech to its driver mode system. ESP takes information from multiple sensors around the vehicle, feeding the accelerometer data into a computerised concept of the car’s driving conditions and the ability of the operator.

Resulting algorithms react to those conditions, road surface issues, available grip, etc., tightening up the vehicle where necessary to aid the driver and offer as much feel and performance as the given operator can manage.

In its completed package, the 2025 Vantage is aimed at a specific buyer demographic—the driving enthusiast who puts thrills ahead of all-out creature comforts.

“For each project at Aston Martin, we have a customer profile in mind,” Owen says. “They have defined interests that highlight their demographic. For the Vantage, we consider a buyer who is perhaps new to the brand and looking into the ‘entry level’ Aston Martin. That’s a buyer who isn’t concerned with having a backseat or the DB nameplate. He or she thinks performance first and foremost.”