Most Americans are seeing only modest pay bumps. But at the top of the corporate ladder, it was another big year.
Chief executives at some of the biggest U.S. companies saw their pay rise nearly 10% in 2024, thanks in large part to soaring stock prices and higher profits.
According to data compiled by Equilar for the Associated Press, the median S&P 500 CEO took home $17.1 million last year. That’s a 9.7% jump from 2023.
Meanwhile, the typical worker at these companies made $85,419, up just 1.7% from the year before.
A Growing Divide
At half the companies included in the AP survey, it would take the median employee 192 years to earn what their CEO was paid in a single year.
The pay gap was even wider at companies like Carnival Corp. and McDonald’s, where the CEO made nearly 1,300 and 1,000 times more than the median worker, respectively.
Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies said, “With CEO pay continuing to climb, we still have an enormous problem with excessive pay gaps.”
She added that the disparities “undercut enterprise effectiveness by lowering employee morale and boosting turnover rates.”
Why the Huge Payouts?
Much of this increase wasn’t from base salaries or bonuses; it came from stock awards.
Companies have been tying more of CEO compensation to long-term performance targets.
These stock packages are often only available if the company hits specific goals, like a higher share price or better profit margins.
The median stock award for CEOs rose nearly 15% last year, while base salaries rose just 4%, according to Equilar.
“For CEOs, target long-term incentives consistently increase more each year than salaries or bonuses,” said Melissa Burek, a partner at Compensation Advisory Partners.
Who Made the Most?
Rick Smith, CEO of Axon Enterprises, the maker of Taser stun guns and police body cameras, topped the list with a package valued at $164.5 million.
Most of it came from stock awards he’ll only get if Axon hits aggressive growth targets through 2030.
Axon posted record profits in 2024, and its stock more than doubled.
Other high earners included:
- Lawrence Culp of GE Aerospace: $87.4 million
- Tim Cook of Apple: $74.6 million
- David Gitlin of Carrier Global: $65.6 million
- Ted Sarandos of Netflix: $61.9 million
Women CEOs See Some Gains
A record 27 women made the AP’s CEO pay list, the highest since tracking began in 2014.
Their median pay was $20 million, a 10.7% increase. For men, the median was $16.8 million, up 9.7%.
Judith Marks of Otis Worldwide was the highest-paid woman, earning $42.1 million, mostly through stock-based pay.
Others near the top included Jane Fraser of Citigroup, Lisa Su of AMD, Mary Barra of General Motors, and Laura Alber of Williams-Sonoma.
Still, experts say the rise in women’s CEO pay doesn’t necessarily reflect meaningful progress.
“There are maybe a couple more names on the list, but we’re really not moving the needle significantly,” said Christy Glass, a sociology professor at Utah State University.
Stock Market Boom Drove Big Paydays
The S&P 500 rose more than 23% in 2024, and corporate profits jumped over 9%. That helped drive the value of performance-based stock compensation even higher.
Dan Laddin of Compensation Advisory Partners said, “2024 was expected to be a strong year, so the (nearly) 10% increases are commensurate with the timing of the pay decisions.”
Security Costs Are Also Rising
Another growing piece of executive pay: security.
After the 2023 shooting of UnitedHealthCare’s CEO, more companies are spending heavily to protect their top executives.
Median spending on security rose from $69,180 in 2023 to $94,276 in 2024, according to Equilar.
Companies like Centene and Intel were among those increasing their security perks.
A Few Notable Outliers
Not every famous CEO had a big payday. Warren Buffett made just $405,000, about five times what a typical Berkshire Hathaway worker earns.
Elon Musk, meanwhile, received no compensation for 2024, although a 2018 stock award worth up to $56 billion is still tied up in court.
Despite a few low earners, the overall trend remains clear: CEO pay is climbing much faster than worker wages.
And for many, the dream of closing that gap feels like it would take more than a lifetime.