Nick Woodman, the billionaire founder of camera-maker GoPro Inc., is about to get a first-person view of being the highest-paid U.S. executive.

The 39-year-old was granted 4.5 million restricted stock units that were valued at $284.5 million at the end of 2014, which would give him the No. 1 spot on the Bloomberg Pay Index, the first daily ranking of the highest-paid U.S. executives. He received the grant in June 2014, three weeks before the San Mateo, California-based company first sold shares to the public, according to its prospectus in November.

The GoPro founder would unseat Cheniere Energy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Charif Souki, who was awarded compensation valued at $281 million at the end of 2013, according to the ranking, which values an executive’s awarded pay package at the company’s fiscal year-end closing price. Cheniere has said it’s cutting Souki’s pay in 2014.

“Nick Woodman is a special entrepreneur and is instrumental to the company’s success both through his vision and leadership,” said Alex Gauna, an analyst at JMP Securities LLC who recommends investors buy GoPro shares. His compensation “is appropriate relative to what he means to this company,” he said.

GoPro, which Woodman founded in 2004 after getting the idea for a high-definition personal camera on a surfing trip, hasn’t yet filed its proxy statement for 2014. The filing could show additional compensation including salary and perks. His stock award is currently valued at $205.5 million.

Jeff Brown, a spokesman for the company, declined to comment in an e-mail.

Awarded Pay

The Bloomberg Pay Index tracks the 100 highest-paid executives that appear in regulatory filings for companies that trade on U.S. exchanges. Each executive’s pay package is updated every business day as fluctuations in company stock prices change the value of their equity awards.

Awarded pay can differ from what’s reported in a company’s summary compensation table. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft Corp., was paid $84.3 million in fiscal 2014, according to the Redmond, Washington-based company’s proxy statement. That would make him one of the highest-paid executives in the U.S. by that measure.

The Bloomberg index shows him getting about half that amount, or $43.5 million. The ranking annualizes a $59.2 million stock award tied to his promotion to CEO and allocates about 257,000 restricted shares to each fiscal year from 2014 to 2020. Microsoft said the award is “non-recurring” with a seven-year term, and that it’s “separate from Mr. Nadella’s ongoing annual compensation,” the proxy shows.

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