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The World’s Most Profitable Company Pays Surprisingly Little

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

SAUDI-OIL-ARAMCO

Photographer: Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images

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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.