New AFL-CIO Report: Nation's Top CEOs Made 285 Times Workers' Pay in 2024
New research shows that S&P 500 CEOs got an average $1.24 million raise last year and made an average of $18.9 million in total compensation.
(Washington, D.C.)—S&P 500 CEOs took home an average of $18.9 million in total compensation in 2024—a 7% pay raise from the previous year—according to a new report released today by the AFL-CIO. That increase means CEOs made 285 times their median workers' income, up from the already egregious 268-to-1 in last year's annual report. The AFL-CIO’s 2025 Executive Paywatch report analyzes new data to quantify the gross economic inequality between America’s CEOs and the workers who make their profits for them.
Key findings from the 2025 AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch report include that:
- Starbucks had the highest CEO-to-worker pay ratio out of all S&P 500 Index companies in 2024. Last year, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol received $97,813,843 in annualized total compensation, or 6,666 times more than the company’s median employee.
- The wealthiest CEOs in America donated huge sums to Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and inauguration, and have benefited from those investments through the loosening of regulations and gutting of federal agencies under his administration. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk personally donated $288 million to Trump’s re-election campaign. Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg’s company Meta Platforms and Jeff Bezos’ company Amazon contributed $1 million each before claiming their front-row seats at Trump’s 2025 inauguration.
- Washington[1], Oregon[2] and Kentucky[3] had the greatest disparity between the compensation of S&P 500 Index company CEOs whose companies are headquartered in those states and the median compensation of the workers in those states.
- CEOs listed in the AFL-CIO’s report will be able to skip out on paying $738 million in income taxes, thanks to the Republican budget reconciliation bill, reducing the marginal income tax rate for S&P 500 company CEOs by nearly $500,000 a year. That lost tax revenue could have paid for Medicaid health care coverage for more than 80,000 people, SNAP food assistance for over 300,000, or school lunches for more than 900,000 students.
“Corporate CEOs are raking in millions, and now they'll get another kickback from President Trump's tax cut gift and anti-worker agenda,” said Fred Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. “Trump is paying for this handout to CEOs by cutting health care, food assistance and hundreds of thousands of jobs that depend on government investments. A union is the best check on a bad boss. So while greedy billionaires and corporations drive up the cost of living, we'll continue to fight for the policies and fair contracts that get workers the pay they’ve earned.”
The AFL-CIO is sounding the alarm on how President Trump and wealthy CEOs are cutting each other deals at working people’s expense as part of year-round organizing. The “It’s Better in a Union” nationwide bus tour is mobilizing workers to fight for their right to organize and collectively bargain, taking back power and leveling the playing field between them and the wealthy CEOs that this administration is governing for.
The full report and findings can be viewed at paywatch.org. Researchers at the AFL-CIO surveyed compensation data filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and collected by C-Suite Comp for more than 3,800 corporations, including the top 500 publicly listed companies in the S&P 500 Index and most of those listed in the Russell 3000 Index. Additional information about the methodology of this research can be found here.
###
[1] Companies: Starbucks Corp., Microsoft Corp., T-Mobile, Expedia Inc., Monolithic Power Systems Inc., Fortive Corp., F5 Inc., Weyerhaeuser Co., Costco Wholesale Corp., PACCAR Inc., Expeditors International of Washington Inc. and Amazon Inc.
[3] Companies: Yum! Brands Inc., Humana Inc. and Brown-Forman Corp.