Executive compensation packages for top CEOs surged by nearly 6 percent in 2025, reaching an average of $17.7 million. This increase reflects company boards’ efforts to reward executives for robust profits and rising stock prices, while also incentivizing them to remain at the helm and further boost shareholder value.
In stark contrast, the median employee at S&P 500 companies earned $89,744, a 4.7 percent increase year-over-year. While this gain outpaced inflation in 2025, many workers continued to grapple with the cumulative effect of higher prices in recent years, forcing them to economize and take on credit card debt for daily necessities.
These findings emerge from The Associated Press’ CEO compensation survey, which used data from Equilar. The survey encompassed pay information for 337 executives at S&P 500 companies who had completed at least two full consecutive fiscal years in their roles and whose proxy statements were filed between January 1 and April 30.
As CEO pay has escalated over recent decades, criticism of these substantial payouts has largely come from worker advocates and certain members of Congress. Some executive compensation packages have been particularly noteworthy.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, received compensation valued at an extraordinary $132.3 billion, entirely in the form of stock awards.
To fully realize these shares, Musk must achieve ambitious targets over the next decade for Tesla's market value, electric vehicle production, and his futuristic goals of developing robotaxis and humanoid robots. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Musk's compensation.
Shankh Mitra of Welltower received the second-largest compensation package in the survey, at $821.1 million, with the bulk in stock awards. Since October 2020, when he became CEO of the healthcare real estate investment trust, Welltower's stock price has tripled.
Mitra can receive full compensation beyond a $110,000 annual salary only after a 10-year period.
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan's pay package, valued at $205.3 million, covers the years 2028-2030, with companies assigning a value at the time of award.
This package is uniquely tied to Tan's ability to significantly increase Broadcom's revenue generated from artificial intelligence, making it one of the few companies currently using AI as a benchmark in its compensation plans.
Kelly Malafis, founding partner at Compensation Advisory Partners, noted in an email that "Use of AI considerations or metrics in incentive plans has not yet taken hold as a majority practice," though she anticipates this trend will change.
David Zaslav was at the center of a takeover battle that ended with him selling Warner Bros. to Paramount Skydance for $31 a share, up from $12.54 before reports of Paramount’s interest in a deal came out.
For negotiating the deal at a premium and also exceeding certain financial and strategic goals, Warner gave Zaslav a pay package valued at $165 million, fourth largest in the survey. Since becoming CEO in 2007, Zaslav's compensation has totaled $1.1 billion, according to Equilar.
Bankers also saw significant payouts. CEOs of three of the nation's largest banks were rewarded for years-long efforts to restructure their companies and revitalize stagnant stock prices.
Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon's pay package totaled almost $80 million, which he can receive after five years. Goldman's board cited a 57 percent gain in the company's shares and a substantial increase in its earnings per share.
Solomon also oversaw the sale of the company's Apple Card portfolio following an unsuccessful attempt to expand Goldman's consumer-focused business.
Jane Fraser of Citigroup received a pay package valued at $95.8 million — tops among the 27 women CEOs in this year's survey and the highest-ever for a woman CEO in the survey's history.
Fraser received a one-time award valued at $25 million in restricted stock and options after being elected Citi's chairman. She also received a one-time award for overseeing a wholesale reorganization of Citi into a leaner company, including the layoff of thousands of workers.
Wells Fargo awarded CEO Charles Scharf a pay package worth $94.5 million, recognizing his years-long efforts to guide the bank back from a scandal involving fake bank accounts that placed the Bank under federal supervision. Despite new scandals emerging along the way, the Federal Reserve finally lifted its penalty box status on Wells last year.
Other notable figures include Warren Buffett, who, in his final year as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, received $25.1 million in compensation. , almost entirely comprising costs for his and his family's security, as well as the use of corporate aircraft.
Jensen Huang of Nvidia, whose company is currently the most valuable publicly traded company, received a $36.3 million pay package, though he was not included in the AP survey because Nvidia filed its proxy after April 30.
The widening chasm between executive and worker pay remains a significant concern. At half of the companies surveyed by AP, it would take a median worker 200 years to earn what their CEO made in a single year, an increase from 192 years in the previous survey. Companies have been mandated to disclose this "pay ratio" since 2018.
While the most substantial disparities often occur at companies where CEO compensation includes significant one-time stock awards, the pay ratio also tends to be highest in industries characterized by typically low wages.
For instance, the CEO of Coca-Cola earned nearly 1,739 times the median worker’s pay of $17,947. Similarly, the CEO at retailer TJX Cos. made approximately 1,774 times the median employee’s earnings.
Sarah Anderson, who directs the Global Economy Project at the progressive Institute for Policy Studies, commented via email on the growing disparity. "At a time when working families are struggling with rising costs, it’s obscene to see CEO pay continuing to skyrocket," Anderson wrote. She also noted ongoing ballot initiative campaigns in San Francisco and Los Angeles aimed at increasing taxes on companies with substantial gaps between CEO and worker pay.
Overall, wages and benefits for private-sector workers in the U.S. rose 3.4 percent through 2025, according to the Labor Department. The average U.S. worker earns $96,000 when benefits such as health care and other insurance are included.
The structure of modern CEO compensation has evolved significantly. While many might associate a pay package with salary, bonus, and perks, these components now constitute only a small fraction of a CEO's total earnings.
Companies have increasingly responded to shareholder demands to link executive pay more closely to performance. Consequently, a large portion of compensation packages now comprises stock awards, which executives often cannot cash in for years, or at all, unless specific targets are met.
These targets typically include a higher stock price, increased market value, or improved operating profits. Should a CEO achieve these metrics, companies often offer one-time rewards to retain them.
Although shareholders can voice their opinions on CEO pay packages through non-binding "say on pay" votes at annual meetings, most plans pass with overwhelming support, averaging around 90 percent approval in this year's survey.
