Being a CEO is beneficial.
According to a September report from the Institute for Economic Policy, CEOs took home an average of $22.98 million in 2024.
This is a 6% increase compared to the previous year, an astounding 1,094% increase since 1978, when the average CEO brought back around $1.9 million in salary and stock-based compensation sold throughout the year, the report says.
Today, CEOs are paid more than 281 times the average “typical workers.” The EPI defines typical worker salary as the average annual compensation for full-time workers in production, and plays a non-supervisory role in industries run by the top 350 companies.
This is down from 2021 when CEOs were paid more than 409 times the average for typical workers, but the compensation rate for CEOs, workers and workers was only 35 years ago at age 60.
The disparity is driven primarily by the shift to equity-based compensation packages, which links the extent to which executives are paid to how well a company is performing in the public market. Additionally, CEOs have gained greater power to set their pay, allowing them to negotiate a higher pay package, the report said.
The highest salary CEO
Last year’s highest wage CEO runs companies in a variety of industries, from defense and technology to food and financial services, according to a June report from executive compensation consulting firm Equilar. The comparable compares the 100 largest CEO wage packages for publicly traded US companies that brought at least $1 billion in 2024, the report says.
The highest-paid CEO, Rick Smith, took home $164,525,721 last year from Leading Axon, a defense weapons company that manufactures Taser and body cameras.
Other CEOs on the top-price list include Starbucks’ Brian Nicole, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook.
According to Equilar, it has the highest-paid CEO of 2024 among US public companies that have earned at least $1 billion in revenue.
Rick Smith, Axon Enterprise: $164,525,721Jim Anderson, Coherent: $101,497,009Brian Niccol, Starbucks: $95,801,676Larry Culp, Ge aerospace: $87,393,875michael Aroughti Microsoft: $79,106,183Tim Cook, Apple: $74,609,802GREGREMKUHL, LINEAGE: $69,341,442DAVID GITLIN, CARRIER GLOBAL: $65,554,845ted Sarandos, Netflix: $61,92,3977
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