World's most profitable company Saudi Aramco surprisingly pays very little

It's a relatively modest life for a top executive at the Saudi oil giant

They run the world’s most profitable company, oversee one-tenth of global oil output and their decisions help shape the fate of a nation. Their paychecks, however, are a little less grandiose.

Saudi oil giant Aramco is a cash cow for the kingdom, allowing the royal family to wield power with a drip-feed of petrodollars. For executives, it’s a relatively modest life compared with some of their peers elsewhere.

Last year, top management and board members — about 17 people in total — split roughly $30 million worth of compensation and benefits. That was half of what rivals Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron