Compensation for top executives at major American companies climbed sharply again in 2025, highlighting the widening gap between corporate leaders and ordinary workers even as households continued to grapple with inflation and rising living costs.
According to an annual survey conducted by the Associated Press using data analysed by Equilar, the typical chief executive officer at companies in the S&P 500 earned $17.7 million in 2025 — an increase of nearly 6% compared to the previous year.
In contrast, the median employee at those companies earned $89,744 annually, reflecting a 4.7% rise year-on-year. While worker pay did increase faster than inflation, many households were still facing pressure from higher costs accumulated over recent years, forcing some families to cut spending or rely more heavily on credit card debt for everyday expenses.
The survey covered compensation data for 337 executives at S&P 500 companies who had served at least two consecutive fiscal years at their firms and whose companies filed proxy statements between January 1 and April 30.
Worker-to-CEO pay gap continues to widen
The report found that at half the companies surveyed, a worker earning the company’s median salary would need nearly 200 years to make what the CEO earned in a single year. Last year, that ratio stood at 192 years.
The largest disparities were recorded at companies where executives received large one-time stock awards and at businesses operating in traditionally low-wage sectors.
At The Coca-Cola Company, the CEO earned nearly 1,739 times the median worker pay of $17,947. At retailer TJX Companies, the CEO-to-worker pay ratio reached roughly 1,774:1.
“At a time when working families are struggling with rising costs, it’s obscene to see CEO pay continuing to skyrocket,” wrote Sarah Anderson, who heads the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.
The report noted that overall wages and benefits for private-sector workers in the United States rose 3.4% through 2025, according to Labor Department data.
Modern CEO pay now heavily tied to stock performance
The structure of executive compensation has also evolved significantly over the years. Instead of relying primarily on salary and bonuses, many companies now tie CEO rewards directly to stock performance, market valuation and long-term profitability targets.
As a result, stock awards make up the largest component of many executive compensation packages, often with restrictions that prevent executives from cashing out unless performance goals are achieved over several years.
Companies have increasingly adopted these structures following pressure from shareholders who wanted executive compensation linked more closely to company performance.
Shareholders can vote on executive compensation plans through “say on pay” resolutions during annual meetings, although these votes are non-binding. According to the survey, most compensation packages still passed comfortably, receiving an average approval rate of around 90%.
Elon Musk tops compensation list with record package
Among the most striking compensation packages in the survey was that of Elon Musk, whose pay package at Tesla was valued at an extraordinary $132.3 billion entirely through stock awards.
To unlock the shares, Musk must meet ambitious targets linked to Tesla’s market valuation, electric vehicle growth and future projects including robotaxis and humanoid robots over the next decade.
Shankh Mitra received the second-largest compensation package at $821.1 million. Most of the package consisted of stock awards tied to long-term company performance at healthcare real estate investment trust Welltower.
Meanwhile, Hock Tan received compensation valued at $205.3 million at Broadcom, with incentives linked partly to the company’s future growth in artificial intelligence-related revenues.
“Use of AI considerations or metrics in incentive plans has not yet taken hold as a majority practice,” said Kelly Malafis, founding partner at Compensation Advisory Partners.
Media and banking executives among top earners
David Zaslav also ranked among the top-paid executives after negotiating a major deal involving Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global.
The survey stated that Zaslav received a compensation package valued at $165 million after the transaction and the company’s strategic targets were achieved.
Banking executives also saw large rewards tied to restructuring efforts and stock market gains.
David Solomon received compensation worth nearly $119 million after strong share-price growth and strategic restructuring moves at Goldman Sachs.
Jane Fraser emerged as the highest-paid female CEO in the survey with compensation valued at $95.8 million at Citigroup.
Women CEOs see mixed trends in compensation
Although Jane Fraser topped the list among women executives, the report found that median compensation for women CEOs actually declined 2.6% to $18.1 million in 2025.
By comparison, compensation for male CEOs increased 6.4% during the same period.
Charles Scharf received a package worth $94.5 million after years spent steering Wells Fargo through regulatory penalties and corporate scandals.
Meanwhile, some high-profile executives remained relatively modest earners compared to their peers.
In his final year leading Berkshire Hathaway, legendary investor Warren Buffett received compensation worth just $389,488.
At Meta Platforms, Mark Zuckerberg received compensation valued at $25.1 million, most of which covered security and private aircraft-related costs for him and his family.
Jensen Huang, whose company NVIDIA became the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, received compensation worth $36.3 million, although he was not included in the AP survey because the company filed its proxy statement after the deadline.