It pays to be a CEO.
CEOs took home an average total of $22.98 million in 2024, based on a September report by the Economic Policy Institute that seemed on the common compensation of CEOs at 350 of the most important publicly traded U.S. corporations by income.
That’s up 6% in contrast with the 12 months earlier than, and a staggering 1,094% since 1978, when the common CEO took residence round $1.9 million in pay and stock-based compensation bought all year long, the report says.
Today, CEOs are paid a median of 281 times greater than the “typical worker.” The EPI defines a typical employee’s wage as the average annual compensation of full-time workers in manufacturing and non-supervisory roles in industries the highest 350 companies function in.
While that is down from 2021, when CEOs had been paid a median of 409 times greater than the standard employee, the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio was 60 simply 35 years in the past.
The disparity has largely been pushed by a shift to stock-based compensation packages, which tie how much executives are paid to how effectively their firm performs within the public market. Additionally, CEOs have gained higher energy to set their very own pay, enabling them to barter larger compensation packages, the report stated.
The highest-paid CEOs
Last 12 months’s highest-paid CEOs ran corporations in a variety of industries, from protection and tech to meals and monetary providers, based on a June report from govt compensation consulting agency Equilar. Equilar in contrast the 100 largest CEO pay packages at U.S. public corporations that introduced in at the very least $1 billion in 2024, the report stated.
The highest-paid CEO, Rick Smith, took residence $164,525,721 final 12 months from main Axon, a protection weapon firm that makes Tasers and physique cameras.
Other CEOs on the highest-paid listing embrace Starbucks’ Brian Niccol, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook.
Here are 2024’s highest-paid CEOs amongst U.S. public corporations with at the very least $1 billion in income, based on Equilar:
- Rick Smith, Axon Enterprise: $164,525,721
- Jim Anderson, Coherent: $101,497,009
- Brian Niccol, Starbucks: $95,801,676
- Larry Culp, GE Aerospace: $87,393,875
- Michael Arougheti, Ares Management: $85,381,842
- Satya Nadella, Microsoft: $79,106,183
- Tim Cook, Apple: $74,609,802
- Greg Lehmkuhl, Lineage: $69,341,442
- David Gitlin, Carrier Global: $65,554,845
- Ted Sarandos, Netflix: $61,922,397
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