CEOs Outpace Worker Salaries in Mere Hours, Business Insider Report

According to Business Insider research, top corporate US executives get the yearly pay of their average worker in just one day. This reflects widening income inequality between corporate staff and managers.

The study evaluated 2024 compensation records submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission by S&P 500 firms. CEOs at Starbucks, McDonald’s, Apple and Disney receive budget-busting payments plus the median company worker typically makes less due to their part-time or overseas positions.

One Chief Executive received $97.8 million while the median employee of the same company earned $14,674 alone. The extreme difference between these numbers shows why people continue to talk about pay differences among top executives and average workers.

Other notable examples include:

• CEO Hock Tan of Broadcom received $161.8 million in salary in 2023 establishing himself as the top-paid CEO that year. His payment depended on his service relationship to the company plus how its stock performance did.
• During his initial four months as Starbucks’s leader, Brian Niccol earned approximately $100 million through stock grants and bonus payments.
• The executive board member of Target Brian Cornell received $19.2 million in compensation though their workforce received a median $26,696 with him.