text: GoPro director Nick Woodman is set to be named the highest-paid CEO of 2014 at the tender age of 39. The pioneering camera innovator clinched the title after being granted 4.5 million restricted stock units - valued at $284.5 million - at the end of the year. It won him the top spot on the annual Bloomberg Pay Index. Slumping to second place, Chenerie Energy's Houston-based chief executive Charif Souki was valued at $281 million. And now the firm has announced it is cutting his pay. In his prime: GoPro creator Nick Woodman, 39, is set to be named America's highest-paid CEO of 2014 . Woodman's product - a camera which can be fixed to helmets, the body, or a hand-held pole - made waves in when it debuted in 2006. They are used by professionals and hobbyists conquering six-foot waves, treacherous ski slopes, scrappy dirt track races and bungee jumps. The cameras have also been used to film inside of the mouths of alligators, sharks and polar bears - and Woodman's wife Jill giving birth to one of their sons. The Californian surfing couple have come a long way since the business was founded in 2004 with one product: a waterproof film camera. Before sales took off, Woodman posed as the model for their self-made adverts. But his posing days didn't last long. In 2006, the firm launched its first digital camera. Three years later it began selling a high-definition camera. The cameras are light, small and waterproof. They have other uses besides sports. TV producers use them to film in areas where big professional cameras can't go. Since launching its high-definition camera in 2009, it has sold 8.5 million of them, including 3.8 million in 2013. Its cameras are sold in more than 25,000 stores and cost between $200 and $400. The day the company first went public, they sold 3.6 million shares of GoPro stock to rake in an astounding $86 million before taxes. The pioneering camera innovator clinched the title after being granted 4.5 million restricted stock units - valued at $284.5 million - at the end of the year . Woodman's product - a camera which can be fixed to helmets, the body, or a hand-held pole - made waves in when it debuted in 2006 . Before sales took off, Woodman posed as the model for their self-made adverts (pictured behind Woodman, his wife Jill and their two children). But his posing days didn't last long . Woodman's shares were worth slightly more than $1.2 billion at the IPO price. As stock prices continue to increase, and including some of Woodman's other assets, Forbes estimates that his net worth is now more than $2.3 billion. Chinese tech manufacturer Foxconn, which owns about 11 million shares of GoPro stock that are worth a collective $425 million. Riverwood Capital, a private equity firm, currently has about $650 million in GoPro stock. Nick Woodman is the founder and CEO of GoPro, a camera which can be fixed to helmets, the body, equipment or a hand-held pole. They are used by professionals and hobbyists conquering 6ft waves, treacherous ski slopes, scrappy dirt track races and bungee jumps. The cameras have also been used to film inside of the mouths of alligators, sharks and polar bears - and Woodman's wife giving birth to one of their sons. They are WiFi capable, typically come with remotes for control and have a capacity of 64GB currently. They are also versatile thanks to numerous add-ons, including LCD screens, and the most expensive model is $400. Woodman's father, Dean, has also found himself an overnight millionaire. The elder Woodman loaned his son $200,000 to help get GoPro off the ground. Dean Woodman - who sold none of his shares at the IPO - now owns $280 million in GoPro shares. As Forbes notes, that is a 140,000 percent return on his initial $200,000 investment. Its list of competitors is short, but growing. Consumer electronics companies Garmin, Samsung and Sony have all entered the market. GoPro had the best-selling camcorder in 2013, according to government paperwork filed by the company. It also sells accessories such as cases, battery packs and mounts that help users attach their cameras to surfboards, helmets or their wrists. It also has a free app and software that lets users edit, store and publish their videos to their social media accounts including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Additional growth may come from the wild videos its cameras create, which the company hopes to use to create a media company. The Bloomberg Pay Index tracks the 100 highest-paid executives in firms that trade on US exchanges. The pay package is assessed by tracking each company's stock prices, which changes the value of their equity awards. Slumping to second place, Chenerie Energy's Houston-based chief executive Charif Souki (pictured) was valued at $281 million. And now the firm has announced it is cutting his pay .
target: Nick Woodman's dynamic cameras became instant success in 2006 .
  Before they took off, he acted as the model for the self-made adverts .
  Now, nine years later, he is a billionaire and top of Bloomberg Pay Index .