Being a CEO is notoriously stressful, but it comes with a lot of perks: influencing company culture, the use of corporate aircraft and cars, and, apparently, raking in more than most people could dream of earning in a lifetime—or six.
According to a new report from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)—comprising 60 domestic and international labor unions that collectively represent 12.5 million workers—CEO-to-worker ratios “remain unacceptably high.”
The average CEO of an S&P 500–listed company earned $16.7 million from their role in 2022, the AFL-CIO said—the second highest amount ever recorded in the organization’s annual Executive Paywatch report.
That’s 272 times the average salary of just under $62,000 for someone employed by an S&P 500 firm, according to the report.
Assuming an average career of around 45 years before retirement, that means an ordinary employee would have to work six lifetimes to earn the same as their CEO did last year.
“The ratio of CEO-to-worker pay is important,” AFL-CIO said in its report. “A higher pay ratio could be a sign that companies suffer from a winner-take-all philosophy, where executives reap the lion’s share of compensation. A lower pay ratio could indicate the companies that are dedicated to creating high-wage jobs and investing in their employees for the company’s long-term health.”
While the average compensation of S&P 500 CEOs declined by almost 9% between 2021 and 2022, CEO pay has jumped by an average of $5 million over the past decade, the report’s authors said.
Last year, the S&P 500 suffered its worst year since 2008, with stocks listed on the exchange shedding almost 20% of their value over the course of 2022.
AFL-CIO compiled its findings using company proxy statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, collecting data from around 3,000 firms, including most of those listed on the Russell 3000 Index—which measures the performance of the country’s 3,000 biggest companies.
CEO-worker pay gap
The report also analyzed the CEO-to-worker pay ratio of publicly listed companies across other U.S. Stock exchanges, comparing chief executives’ compensation packages to their median worker’s salary.
One of the biggest gaps was at Ticketmaster parent Live Nation, according to the research, with the company’s CEO taking home 5,414 times more than its median-earning worker, who earned $25,673.
“The equity from Mr. Rapino’s contract renewal will only be awarded if Live Nation hits aggressive growth targets, and to unlock the full value the company’s stock will need to more than double in five years,” a spokesperson for Live Nation told Coins2Day via email.
Coca-Cola had a reported CEO-to-worker ratio of 1,883 to one last year, according to the report, while the chief executive of McDonald’s was said to have earned 1,224 times the median pay on offer at the fast-food giant.
Tech giant Apple—where the median salary was $84,493, according to the AFL-CIO—had a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 1,177 to one, the report said.
Apple CEO Tim Cook’s total compensation hit $99.4 million in 2022—but he will be taking a 40% pay cut this year, leaving him with a target income of $49 million.
Representatives for Apple, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s did not respond to Coins2Day’ s requests for comment on the AFL-CIO report.
Highest paid CEOs
The report also ranked the highest-earning CEOs at America’s biggest public companies.
At the top of the list was Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who took home more than $253 million last year, according to AFL-CIO data.
The CEOs of Google parent company Alphabet, Hertz, and Peloton were the next most generously compensated, the report showed.
This story has been updated to include a statement from Live Nation.
