S&P 500 CEO Pay Gap Widens to 312-to-1 in 2025 as Average Compensation Hits $22.8 Million
Updated
Updated · Al Jazeera English · Aug 13
S&P 500 CEO Pay Gap Widens to 312-to-1 in 2025 as Average Compensation Hits $22.8 Million
3 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Aug 13
Summary
AFL-CIO’s 2025 Paywatch report found S&P 500 chief executives earned 312 times their median worker’s pay, up from 285 times in 2024.
Excluding Elon Musk’s $158 billion Tesla package, average CEO compensation still rose 21% to $22.8 million from about $19 million; including him, the average jumped 1,700% to $3.1 billion.
Tesla remained the starkest outlier: Musk made 2.5 million times the average employee’s pay while the company posted a 3% revenue decline, a roughly 9% sales drop and 11 recalls covering 745,000 vehicles.
The report also highlighted wide gaps at consumer-facing employers, including Starbucks at an estimated 1,794-to-1 ratio and McDonald’s at 1,082-to-1, while Amazon, Dollar Tree, FedEx, McDonald’s and Walmart workers were among the biggest users of social assistance.
AFL-CIO tied the widening divide to broader economic strain as Trump’s 2025 income surged 254% to $2.2 billion, 37% of US adults could not cover a $400 emergency, and the economy shed 23,000 jobs in July.