The median pay package for CEOs who run companies in the S&P 500 increased 12.6% last year to $16.3 million, according to new survey data from Equilar and The Associated Press, but wages and benefits from private sectors employees grew by just 4.1%. At 50% of the companies that participated in the survey, it would take an employee at a median salary range for the business practically 200 years to make as much as a CEO in one year.
According to the data, around 24 CEOs—out of the 341 surveyed—received a pay increase of 50% or more last year. While Kelly Malafis of Compensation Advisory Partners said that it’s necessary for boards to reward and retain good CEOs, Sarah Anderson of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies said that the earnings gap plays a role in overall dissatisfaction with the economy.
“Most of the focus here is on inflation, which people are really feeling, but they’re feeling the pain of inflation more because they’re not seeing their wages go up enough,” she said.
Out of the participating companies, the CEO of Broadcom, Inc., Hock Tan earned the most with a pay packed valued at around $162 million. Other high-ranking CEOs include Fair Isaac Corp.’s William Lansing, who earned $66.3 million; Apple’s Time Cook with $63.2 million; and Prologis, Inc.’s, Hamid Moghadam at $50.9 million.
