When it comes to disparity between executive salaries and those of the workforce, no one can top Oracle.
A new study of America’s most overpaid CEOs from As You Sow shows the tech company firmly atop the list, with Mark Hurd (who passed away in October, 2019) and Safra Catz being listed as the executives with the widest pay gap. Oracle is the only company to be listed in every ‘overpaid CEO’ study the non-profit has put out since 2015.
Hurd and Katz took in more than $216.5 million in 2019, compared to an average worker salary just shy of $88,000. That resulted in a CEO to worker pay ratio of 1,205 to 1.
Only two companies – Disney and Oracle – are making their second consecutive appearance on the Top 10 list. Disney’s Iger moved from sixth place to third this year. (Iger’s salary has been in the news more as Walt Disney’s grandniece has been vocally protesting his compensation levels.)
Beyond focusing on CEO’s pay, the report took pension and fund managers to task for allowing what it called “excessive compensation.”
“Regression analysis showed that 15 of the most overpaid CEOs on our list each had compensation that was at least $20 million higher than if their pay had been properly aligned with performance,” the report said. “Of these CEOs, one received compensation that was $200 million above what the performance of the company justified, another one was $100 million above what it should have been based on TSR, and two others more than $50 million higher.”
Here’s a look at the list’s ranking of the 10 most overpaid CEOs in America:
- Mark V. Hurd & Safra A. Catz, Oracle Corporation
Salary: $216,577,356 (Median employee pay: $89,887) - Joseph M. Hogan, Align Technology Inc
Salary: $41,758,338 (Median employee pay: $13,180) - Robert Iger, Walt Disney Company
Salary: $65,645,214 (Median employee pay: $46,127) - David M. Zaslav, Discovery
Salary: $129,499,005 (Median employee pay: $85,704) - Jeffrey K. Storey, CenturyLink Inc.
Salary: $35,655,646 (Median employee pay: $68,674) - Daniel H. Schulman, PayPal Holdings Inc
Salary: $37,764,588 (Median employee pay: $69,600) - Arthur Peck, Gap Inc.
Salary: $20,793,939 (Median employee pay: $5,831) - Stephen MacMillan, Hologic Inc
Salary: $42,040,142 (Median employee pay: $87,845) - Brian R. Niccol, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc
Salary: $33,520,940 (Median employee pay: $13,779) - Giovanni G. Visentin, Xerox Corporation
Salary: $23,459,003 (Median employee pay: $43,953)
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—Should CEOs stay on the board after they step down?
—What happens to a company’s stock when there’s turnover at the top
—2019 was the year of the CEO exodus
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