The data from the AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch database draws from company proxy statements that are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and collected by pay-gap.com. The database includes data for some 3,000 corporations, including most of those listed in the Russell 3000 Index. Industry classifications are based on North American Industry Classification System codes.

The compensation year denotes the company’s fiscal year as reported in proxy statements. For companies with more than one CEO during the year, the highest-paid CEO is included in the database. Pay ratio data and median employee pay are displayed as disclosed by each company’s proxy statement. CEO pay ratio may not equal the displayed CEO’s total compensation due to differing company methodologies in calculating pay ratios.
The AFL-CIO’s calculation of the average CEO compensation is based on the AFL-CIO’s analysis of 500 companies in the S&P 500 Index with available pay data as of July 2022. The average CEO-to-worker pay ratio of S&P 500 companies is calculated as the arithmetic mean of the company’s disclosed pay ratios.

For companies without available pay ratio data, the CEO’s pay is compared to the average annual income earned by U.S. workers, which is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ ("BLS’") National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates. State average annual pay data for private sector workers is also from BLS’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

The 2022 percentage changes in workers’ real wages are according to BLS' March 14, 2023, Real Earnings News Release of average hourly earnings for U.S. private sector workers (year-over-year changes as of December 2022).
 

TERMS

CEO Name and Company: The name of the CEO and company affiliation is derived from the proxy statement. The highest-paid CEO is displayed for companies that had more than one CEO during the fiscal year (or both CEOs are listed if their compensation was equal).

Salary: Salary paid to the CEO for the fiscal year.

Bonus: Bonus paid to the CEO in the fiscal year.

Value of Stock Awards: The value of the stock awards granted in a fiscal year as listed in the summary compensation table. Stock awards are in the form of stock or restricted stock that is either time vesting or performance vesting.

Value of Option Awards: The value of stock option awards granted in a fiscal year as listed in the summary compensation table. Stock options are the right to purchase a specified number of common stock at a stated exercise price for a specified period of time. The value of stock option awards also includes compensation in the form of stock appreciation rights awards.

Nonequity Incentive Plan Compensation: This is compensation earned pursuant to nonequity incentive plans. This includes incentive plan awards that are not stock or equity. Incentive plans generally provide for compensation intended to serve as an incentive for performance to occur over a specified period.

Change in Pension Value and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Earnings: This is the increase in actuarial value to the executive officer of all defined-benefit pension plans and earnings on nonqualified deferred compensation plans over the past year.

All Other Compensation: The value of perquisites and other benefits provided to the CEO. This could include personal use of company cars and airplanes, country club memberships, tax reimbursements, insurance plans or payments to savings plans. Payments to savings plans are part of change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings.

Total Compensation: Total compensation is determined by adding the above components: (1) the salary, (2) the bonus, (3) all other compensation, (4) the value of stock and option awards, (5) the value of nonequity incentive plan compensation and the change in pension values, and (6) nonqualified deferred compensation earnings.
 

SOURCES

Blackstone

• “MIT Reshapes Itself to Shape the Future,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, October 15, 2018.
• Stephen Schwarzman, “Can We Make Artificial Intelligence Ethical?,” The Washington Post, January 23, 2019.
• “Blackstone CEO Celebrates MIT Donation with Robot-Themed Party,” Page Six, December 31, 2018.

Alphabet

• Sundar Pichai, “Google CEO: Building AI Responsibly Is the Only Race That Really Matters,” Financial Times, May 23, 2023.
• Sundar Pichai, “Why Google Thinks We Need to Regulate AI,” Financial Times, January 19, 2020.
• Adam Satariano and Nico Grant, “Google Parent Alphabet to Cut 12,000 Jobs,” The New York Times, January 20, 2023.
• Kevin Collier, “Leaked Google Engineer Memo Warns That Big Tech Could Lose AI Race to the Little Guys,” NBC News, May 9, 2023.

Hertz Global Holdings

• Rafat Ali, “Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr Believes EV, AI and Blended Travel Are All Tailwinds for His Business,” Skift, December 7, 2022.
• “Hertz Expands Global Electric Vehicle Commitment with New UFODRIVE Partnership,” Hertz Global Holdings, February 15, 2022.
• “U.S. Car Rental Company Hertz to Lay Off 10,000 Staff on Coronavirus Hit,” Reuters, April 20, 2020.
• Hertz Global Holdings, 2022 Annual Report (Form 10-K), p. 13 (February 7, 2023).
• Hertz Global Holdings, 2019 Annual Report (Form 10-K), p. 13 (February 25, 2020).

Peloton Interactive

• Sharon Terlep, “Peloton to Cut 500 More Jobs in Latest Bid for Turnaround,” The Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2022.
• Ben Gilbert, “As Peloton Fires Over 2,800 Employees, It's Giving Them a Free 1-Year Subscription on the Way Out,” Business Insider, February 8, 2022.
• Isabella Simonetti, “Peloton, Seeking to Cut Costs, Will No Longer Make Its Own Bikes,” The New York Times, July 12, 2022.
• Nick Turner, “Peloton’s Famous Instructors, Who Can Make Upwards of $500,000 a Year, Escape Layoffs,” Bloomberg, February 8, 2022.
• Giselle Castro-Sloboda, “Peloton Guide Review: Turn Any TV Into a Guided Strength Workout,” CNET, July 8, 2022.

Live Nation Entertainment

• Ben Sisario, “Ticketmaster Plans to Use a Variable Pricing Policy,” The New York Times, April 18, 2011.
• Ben Sisario, “Live Music Is Roaring Back. But Fans Are Reeling from Sticker Shock,” The New York Times, April 7, 2023.
• Elizabeth Dilts Marshall, “Live Nation Shareholders Vote Disapproval of CEO Michael Rapino’s $139M Pay Package,” Billboard, June 20, 2023.

Oracle

• “Oracle (ORCL) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript,” The Motley Fool, June 12, 2023.
• Stephen Nellis, “Oracle Adds Generative AI to its Human Resources Software,” Reuters, June 28, 2023.

Sarepta Therapeutics

• “Sarepta Therapeutics and Dyno Therapeutics Announce Agreement to Develop Next-Generation Gene Therapy Vectors for Muscle Diseases,” Sarepta Therapeutics, May 11, 2020.
• Liz Essley Whyte, “The Price of First Gene Therapy for Muscular Dystrophy: $3.2 Million,” The Wall Street Journal, June 22, 2023.
• Sarepta Therapeutics, Current Report (Form 8-K), June 9, 2023.

Pinterest

• Brian Sozzi, “Pinterest CEO: We’re Making AI ‘Additive to People’s Lives, not Addictive,’” Yahoo Finance, March 27, 2023.
• John McCormick, “Pinterest’s Use of AI Drives Growth,” The Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2021.

CS Disco

• CS Disco, 2022 Annual Report (Form 10-k), p. 5 (February 24, 2023).
• Staci Zaretsky, “Biglaw's Summer Associate Recruitment Cycle Has Taken a Dip Amid Layoffs and Fears of a Recession,” Above the Law, February 28, 2023.

Workday

• “We’ve Built A.I. and Machine Learning Into Our Platform Instead of ‘Bolting’ Them On: Software Firm,” CNBC, April 20, 2023.
• Alan Murray and Nicholas Gordon, “‘We Don’t Do Woke, We Just Work:’ 3 CEOs Talk ESG, Geopolitics, and A.I.,” Fortune, May 4, 2023.
• Annelise Gilbert, “Workday AI Biased Against Black, Older Applicants, Suit Says,” Bloomberg Law, February 22, 2023.