
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) estimates that CEO compensation has grown 1,322% since 1978, while typical worker compensation has risen just 18%. In 2020, CEOs of the top 350 firms in the U.S. made $24.2 million on average, which was 351 times more than a typical worker.
Sometimes the coveted C-level title doesn’t always garner large annual sums: former Apple Inc (NASDAQ:APPL) CEO Steve Jobs famously slashed his pay to $1 shortly after rejoining Apple and kept it there for more than a decade. And in 2019, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk earned just $23,000 — enough to purchase half of one Tesla Model Y.