USA 
United Kingdom
Last year was marked by inflation, rising prices, and budget challenges for workers. However, new analysis from Equilar for, The Associated Press, found that CEO salaries surged by nearly 13%.
Data analyzed by Equilar highlighted that the median pay package for CEOs of S&P 500 companies increased by 12.6% to $16.3 million, while wages and benefits for private-sector workers saw a modest rise of 4.1%.
This growing pay gap is underscored by the fact that at half of these companies, a middle-rung worker would need nearly 200 years to earn what their CEO makes in a single year.
The study examined pay data for 341 executives who served at least two full consecutive fiscal years.
Kelly Malafis, Founding Partner of Compensation Advisory Partners in New York, explained the trend: "In this post-pandemic market, the desire is for boards to reward and retain CEOs when they feel like they have a good leader in place. That all combined kind of leads to increased compensation."
CEOs benefitted as the economy showed remarkable resilience, leading to strong profits and boosted stock prices.
After navigating the pandemic, companies faced challenges from persistent inflation and higher interest rates. In this context, approximately two dozen CEOs saw their pay increase by 50% or more.
Sarah Anderson, Director of the Global Economy Project at the progressive Institute for Policy Studies, suggested that the growing dissatisfaction among Americans with the economy is driven by the earnings gap between top executives and workers.
"Most of the focus here is on inflation, which people are feeling, but they are feeling the pain of inflation more because they are not seeing their wages go up enough," she told AP.
The highest-paid CEO in the survey was Hock Tan of Broadcom Inc., with a pay package of approximately $162 million. Other top earners included William Lansing of Fair Isaac Corp. ($66.3 million), Tim Cook of Apple Inc. ($63.2 million), Hamid Moghadam of Prologis Inc. ($50.9 million), and Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix ($49.8 million).
Notably absent from the survey were CEOs such as Nikesh Arora of Palo Alto Networks ($151.4 million) and Christopher Winfrey of Charter Communications ($89 million).
Although Elon Musk received no compensation as CEO of Tesla Inc., his pay is currently controversial. A judge in Delaware ruled that the approval process for Musk's pay package was "deeply flawed," but Musk has asked shareholders to restore it.
The Labor Department reported that workers across the country earned higher pay since the pandemic, with private-sector employees making 4.1% more in 2023 after a 5.1% increase in 2022.
Gender disparity at executive level
The survey also highlighted the gender disparity in CEO positions. While more women were included in the survey compared to previous years, their numbers remain significantly lower than their male counterparts.
Of the 341 CEOs included in Equilar's data, only 25 were women.
Lisa Su, CEO and chair of the board of chip maker Advanced Micro Devices, topped the list for female CEOs for the fifth year in 2023, with a $30.3 million package.
Other notable female CEOs included Mary Barra of General Motors ($27.8 million), Jane Fraser of Citigroup ($25.5 million), Kathy Warden of Northrop Grumman Corp. ($23.5 million), and Carol Tome of UPS Inc. ($23.4 million).
The median pay package for female CEOs rose 21% to $17.6 million, outpacing their male counterparts, whose median pay package rose 12.2% to $16.3 million.
