Median CEO pay rose nearly 6% in 2025, but some compensation packages were eye-popping – Chicago Tribune

NEW YORK — The typical CEO pay package rose nearly 6% in 2025 to $17.7 million, as company boards reward their top executives for bigger profits and higher stock prices, and incentivize them to stay and make even more money for shareholders.

The median employee at S&P 500 companies earned $89,744, reflecting a 4.7% year-over-year increase. Although this gain exceeded the 2025 inflation rate, many workers still felt squeezed by the accumulation of higher prices in recent years and had to save money to make ends meet and rack up credit card debt to pay for daily necessities.

The Associated Press CEO Compensation Survey, which uses data analyzed for The AP by Equilar, included salary data from 337 executives at S&P 500 companies who served at least two consecutive full fiscal years at their companies, who filed proxy statements between Jan. 1 and April 30.

Here’s a look at some highlights from the investigation.

The wage gap

At half of the companies surveyed by AP, it would take 200 years for a worker in the middle of the pay scale to achieve what the CEO has done at a company, up from 192 years in last year’s survey. Since 2018, companies have been required to disclose what is known as the salary ratio.

While the largest gaps occur at companies where the CEO received compensation consisting of one-time stock grants, the salary ratio also tends to be highest at companies in industries where salaries are generally low. For example, at Coca-Cola, its CEO earned nearly 1,739 times the median employee salary of $17,947. The CEO of retailer TJX Cos. earns about 1,774 times what a worker earning the company’s median wage.

Sarah Anderson, who directs the Global Economy Project at the Progressive Institute for Policy Studies, noted in an email that there are ballot initiative campaigns in San Francisco and Los Angeles to raise taxes on companies with large pay gaps between CEOs and workers.

“At a time when working families are struggling with rising costs, it is obscene to see CEO salaries continue to skyrocket,” Anderson wrote.

Overall, wages and benefits for private sector workers in the United States increased 3.4% through 2025, according to the Department of Labor. In the United States, the average worker earns $67,000 per year. This figure rises to $96,000 when benefits such as health care and other insurance are included.

The nature of CEO compensation

Although many people may think of the entire salary package as consisting of salary, bonuses, and some benefits, these items make up only a small percentage of the modern CEO’s salary.

Many companies have responded to shareholder calls to tie CEO pay more closely to performance. As a result, a large portion of compensation consists of stock awards, which the CEO often cannot cash out for years, if at all, unless the company achieves certain goals, usually a higher stock price or market value or improved operating profits. And if the CEO meets these criteria, companies often give them unique rewards to encourage them to stay and not seek a bigger salary elsewhere.

Shareholders can influence a CEO’s compensation through “say on pay” votes at a company’s annual meeting. But votes are not binding and most salary plans pass with overwhelming support. The average “yes” for companies in this year’s survey was around 90%.

Big rewards, ambitious goals

While CEO pay has increased significantly in recent decades, criticism of high pay has come largely from worker advocates and some members of Congress.

Elon Musk’s salary is so extraordinary that even the Pope has given his opinion on it.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla, received compensation valued at $132.3 billion, all in the form of stock awards. To actually get the shares, Musk must meet ambitious goals over the next 10 years regarding the company’s market value and Tesla’s electric vehicles, as well as his futuristic goals of developing a fleet of robo-taxis and an army of humanoid robots.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Welltower’s Shankh Mitra received the second-largest compensation in the survey, $821.1 million, the bulk of which was stock awards. Since October 2020, when he became CEO of the healthcare real estate investment company, and October 2025, Welltower’s stock price has tripled. Mitra can only receive full compensation, beyond an annual salary of $110,000, after a period of 10 years.

CEO Hock Tan’s pay package at Broadcom, valued at $205.3 million, covers the years 2028 to 2030 — companies assign a value to when the package is awarded — and is tied to Tan’s ability to significantly increase Broadcom’s revenue through artificial intelligence, making it one of the few companies today to use AI as a benchmark in its compensation plans.

“Using AI considerations or metrics in incentive plans has not yet become a majority practice,” Kelly Malafis, founding partner of Compensation Advisory Partners, said in an email, although she expects that may change in the future.

David Zaslav was at the center of a takeover battle that ended in the sale of Warner Bros. to Paramount Skydance for $31 per share, up from $12.54 before reports of Paramount’s interest in a transaction were released. For negotiating the deal at a premium and exceeding certain financial and strategic goals, Warner awarded Zaslav a fee valued at $165 million, the fourth largest in the investigation. Since becoming CEO in 2007, Zaslav’s compensation totals $1.1 billion, according to Equilar.

Big payouts for bankers

The CEOs of three of the nation’s largest banks were recognized for their years-long efforts to revamp their companies and revive a stagnant stock price.

Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon’s compensation totals nearly $119 million, including $80 million worth of stock he could receive after five years. Goldman’s board highlighted the 57% rise in the company’s shares, as well as a sharp increase in its earnings per share. Solomon also sold the company’s Apple Card wallet after an unsuccessful effort to expand Goldman’s consumer-focused business.

Citigroup’s Jane Fraser received compensation valued at $95.8 million – the first among 27 female CEOs in this year’s survey and the highest ever for a female CEO in the survey’s history. Fraser received a one-time reward valued at $25 million in restricted stock and options after being elected chairman of Citi. She also received a unique award for overseeing a comprehensive reorganization of Citi into a leaner company, including the layoff of thousands of workers.

Overall, median compensation for female CEOs surveyed in the survey fell 2.6% to $18.1 million, compared to a 6.4% increase for their male counterparts to $17.7 billion.

Wells Fargo gave CEO Charles Scharf compensation worth $94.5 million after his years-long effort to bring the bank back from a scandal involving fake bank accounts that placed Wells under federal scrutiny. And new scandals have emerged over time. The Federal Reserve finally let Wells leave the penalty box last year.

Other notables

During his final year as CEO of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett received compensation worth $389,488, a 4% decrease from the previous year.

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s compensation was valued at $25.1 million and almost all of it involved costs to the company to keep him and his family safe, as well as the use of corporate jets.

Jensen Huang of Nvidia, the most valuable publicly traded company, received compensation valued at $36.3 million. He did not participate in the AP investigation because Nvidia filed its proxy after April 30.