If American corporations want to regain their global leadership, visionary boards should be drastically reviewing the way they are appointing and compensating their top leaders, while leading a major cultural change and reskilling all workers.
Back in 1965, CEOs earned 21 times more than the average worker; by 2023, this ratio had escalated to 290 times. The situation is even worse for 100 out of the S&P 500 corporations, where in 2022 this ratio was 603 times. As a result, real (inflation-adjusted) CEO compensation in large firms increased by 878% from 1978 to 2022, while real worker compensation rose by 4.5% during this period.
