The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic not only disrupted lives but also severely affected the global economy. It led to severe income reductions and a significant rise in unemployment (about 114 million jobs lost globally).
While typical employees were struggling to meet ends, the CEO-to-worker pay gap increased hundreds of times. In 1965, this ratio was just 15 is to 1 (which is now 351:1).
Yes, CEOs at the top American companies made 351 times more money than their employees in 2020, states research by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
And, that’s not all…
• CEO compensation has grown by 1322% since 1978. Whereas, the pay of typical employees has increased by just 18% in the past 44 years.
• CEO compensation increased by 18.9% between 2019 and 2020 alone.
• The EPI report concludes that there would have been no adverse impact on the economy or employment if companies paid their CEOs less or if the government taxed them at a higher rate.
While we talk about CEOs making so much more money than generic employees, let me tell you another interesting fact.
Many CEOs take only $1 a year as their salary. Yes, that’s absolutely true.
CEOs like Mark Zukerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Larry Ellison, and Elon Musk take home just $1 or less a year as salary. That’s because they’re already rich.
In place of salary, they choose to get stocks in the company and make money through equities. Their wealth grows with the increase in the company’s stock value.
