CEO Pay Jumped 12.6% in 2023
Median compensation for S&P 500 chief executives rose 12.6% to $16.3 million in 2023, significantly outpacing the 4.1% increase in private-sector worker wages and benefits over the same period. The gap widened as economic resilience lifted corporate profits and equity valuations.
The analysis, conducted by Equilar for The Associated Press, covered 341 executives who served at least two consecutive fiscal years. Approximately two dozen CEOs received raises exceeding 50%.
Top Earners
The highest-compensated executives in the survey included:
- Hock Tan (Broadcom) — $162 million
- William Lansing (Fair Isaac Corp.) — $66.3 million
- Tim Cook (Apple) — $63.2 million
- Hamid Moghadam (Prologis) — $50.9 million
- Ted Sarandos (Netflix co-CEO) — $49.8 million
The Ratio
Half of the surveyed CEOs earned at least 196 times the median employee's salary at their company. The widening divergence reflects both the compensation structures favored by boards and a longer-running cultural treatment of senior executives as exceptional, scarce talent rather than one input among many.
Shareholder Response
Say-on-pay votes largely endorsed executive compensation plans, though 13 S&P 500 companies received below 50% shareholder support in 2023 — a measurable signal of investor pushback on specific plans. Female representation improved modestly: 25 women among the 341 CEOs surveyed.
Implications
For audit committees and compensation committees, the data reinforces the need to stress-test pay plans against both internal equity metrics and external perception. Plans that outperform peers in absolute magnitude but fall short on rationale are increasingly drawing shareholder challenge.