Tampa-based insurance CEO paid $50M in earnings as homeowners face soaring rates

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Homeowners across Florida have been grappling with soaring insurance premiums as some are hit with increases of 20% or more, according to state data and consumer complaints.

That's why many policyholders and consumer advocates have become outraged after learning just how much the CEO of one of the state's fast-growing insurance companies is earning each year.

According to government filings obtained by NBC affiliate WBBH, Bruce Lucas, the CEO of Tampa-based Slide Insurance, paid himself more than $21 million in 2024. His wife, who serves as the company's chief operating officer, received $16.5 million.

Combined, the couple took home more than $50 million in salary, stocks and bonuses, according to the 132-page filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

"It's shocking they're making that kind of money and people can't even pay their bills, rent, food," Cape Coral resident Bob Esposito told WBBH.

Slide Insurance launched just three years ago and now has over 340,000 policies — the vast majority of which were acquired from Citizens Property Insurance. The company's profits nearly doubled to $201 million in 2024.

Consumer advocates like Doug Quinn with the American Policy Holder Association have called the situation out of control, adding that it is emblematic of a broader problem in Florida's insurance market.

"We keep hearing these stories about how these 'poor struggling insurance companies' are being taken advantage of, and that's why they need to keep raising rates," he told WBBH. "Meanwhile, the executives are profiting handsomely."

Slide's CEO makes three times the amount of some other Florida-based insurers, rivaling even major national companies. Lucas' 2024 earnings were only slightly less than those of the CEO of State Farm, who earned $24 million in the same period.

"The greed! The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer," said Mary Bousquet, another Cape Coral resident. "It's just so unbalanced. The whole thing is out of control — it has to be fixed somehow."

WBBH reached out to Slide Insurance for comment and was told the company is currently in a "quiet period" and unable to respond.