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 CSuiteComp.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. Industry-level CEO pay averages for the S&P 500 Index are based on the Global Industry Classification Standard 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 2023. 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.

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

Figure 1: In 2023, S&P 500 CEO Pay And Corporate Profits Surged As The Prices Companies Paid Fell While Consumer Prices Rose

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “PPI Detailed Report, Data for December 2023,” Producer Price Index by Commodity: All Commodities [Table 6], https://www.bls.gov/ppi/detailed-report/ppi-detailed-report-december-2023.pdf.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average [CPIAUCSL], Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_01112024.htm

AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch analysis of CEO pay data provided by CSuiteComp.com.  

S&P Global Indices, "S&P 500 Q1 2024 Buybacks Increase 8.1% from Q4 2023; “12-Month Expenditure Declines 4.8% from Previous Year, Earnings Per Share Impact Reverses Showing First Gain in Five Quarters; Buybacks Tax Results in a 0.47% Reduction in Q1 Operating Earnings and 0.41% Reduction in 12-Month Earnings," June 17, 2024, spglobal.com/spdji/en/documents/index-news-and-announcements/20240617-sp-500-buyback-q1-2024.pdf.

Figure 2: S&P 500 Index Company CEO Pay Has Increased $4.2 Million Over the Past Decade

AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch analysis of CEO pay data provided by CSuiteComp.com. 

Figure 3: Who Benefits? Trump's Corporate Tax Cuts Increased Inequality and Executive Pay, But Did Not Increase Wages for the Bottom 90% of Workers

Patrick Kennedy et. al., The Efficiency-Equity Tradeoff of the Corporate Income Tax: Evidence from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, March 21, 2024, Table 11.

Companies Where CEO Pay and Prices Are Rising

Charter Communications

Charter Communications Inc., Proxy Statement (Form DEF 14A), March 14, 2024, p. 41, sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1091667/000119312524067965/d534477ddef14a.htm.

Jon Brodkin, “Charter Raises Base Internet to $80 a Month; Price Hikes to Hit 9.5M Users,” Ars Technica, Nov. 1, 2022, arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/11/charter-spectrum-raises-internet-prices-5-a-month-cheapest-tier-now-80.

Rob Pegoraro, “Spectrum to Hike Rates Again, Including Its Low-Income Internet Option,” PC Magazine, Jan. 4, 2024, pcmag.com/news/spectrum-to-hike-rates-again-including-its-low-income-internet-option.

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines Inc., Proxy Statement (Form DEF 14A), April 26, 2024, p. 45, sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/27904/000130817924000615/ldal2024_def14a.htm.

David Koenig, “Delta Hikes Q2 Revenue Outlook on Sharply Higher Airfares,” The Associated Press, June 1, 2022, apnews.com/article/ed-bastian-airlines-ffd3a90ed83f46775b015c9f020e11ee.

 “Delta Is Hiking Its Checked-Baggage Fees. Here's How Much It Will Cost,” USA Today, March 6, 2024, usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2024/03/06/delta-air-lines-raises-checked-bag-fees/72864496007.

Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil Corp., Proxy Statement (Form DEF 14A), April 11, 2024, p. 70, sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/34088/000119312524092545/d784249ddef14a.htm.

Wyatte Grantham-Philips, “Exxon Mobil Reports Record Annual Profits for 2022; White House Calls Earnings 'Outrageous',” USA Today, Feb. 1, 2023, usatoday.com/story/money/2023/02/01/exxon-mobil-earnings-record-profits/11161113002.

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, Proxy Statement (Form DEF 14A), March 13, 2024, p. 92, sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/200406/000020040624000024/jnj-20240311.htm.

 “J&J Sues in Latest Bid to Halt Medicare Drug Price Negotiations,” Reuters, July 18, 2023,  reuters.com/legal/jj-sues-us-govt-halt-medicare-drug-price-negotiation-plans-2023-07-18.

Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., “The 2022 Janssen U.S. Pricing Transparency Brief,” 2023, p. 4,  transparencyreport.janssen.com/2022-transparency-report.

Starbucks

Starbucks Corp., Proxy Statement (DEFC 14A), Jan. 25, 2024, p. 83, sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0000829224/000119312524014772/d523441ddefc14a.htm.

Kate Gibson and Aimee Picchi, “Starbucks to Raise Prices, Blaming Inflation. It's the Third Price Hike Since October,” CBS News, Feb. 3, 2022, cbsnews.com/news/starbucks-prices-inflation.

Danielle Wiener-Bronner, “Why That ‘Free’ Starbucks Drink Is About to Cost You More,” CNN, Dec. 28, 2022, cnn.com/2022/12/28/business/starbucks-rewards-changes/index.html.

UDR

UDR Inc., Proxy Statement (Form DEF 14A), April 4, 2024, p. 89, sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/74208/000007420824000029/udr-20240523xdef14a.htm.

UDR Inc., Annual Report (Form 10-K), Feb. 20, 2024, p. 51, sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/74208/000007420824000011/udr-20231231x10k.htm.

Will Parker, “Alleged Rent-Fixing of Apartments Nationwide Draws More Legal Scrutiny,” April 15, 2024, wsj.com/us-news/law/apartment-rent-fixing-drawing-nationwide-legal-scrutiny-8b2867ab.

Trump’s Tax Cuts Continue to Benefit Corporations and CEOs

Congressional Budget Office (CBO), “The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2018 to 2028,” April 9, 2018, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53651.

Patrick Kennedy et. al., The Efficiency-Equity Tradeoff of the Corporate Income Tax: Evidence from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, March 21, 2024, https://patrick-kennedy.github.io/files/TCJA_KDLM_2024.pdf. 

Stock Buybacks Continue to Boost Executive Pay

“12-Month Expenditure Declines 4.8% from Previous Year, Earnings Per Share Impact Reverses Showing First Gain in Five Quarters; Buybacks Tax Results in a 0.47% Reduction in Q1 Operating Earnings and 0.41% Reduction in 12-Month Earnings," June 17, 2024, spglobal.com/spdji/en/documents/index-news-and-announcements/20240617-sp-500-buyback-q1-2024.pdf.

Sarah Anderson and Natalia Renta, “Maximizing the Benefits of the Chips Program,” Institute for Policy Studies and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, July 11, 2024, https://ips-dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ips_report_chips_and_buybacks.pdf