Overview

• Median CEO compensation jumped to $17.1 million in 2024 while median employee pay grew 1.7% to $85,419
• Stock awards drove most of the increase, rising 14.7% to a median $10.2 million and vesting on profit or share-price targets
• Executives now earn about 192 times what a typical employee makes, a disparity underscored by mandatory pay-ratio disclosures
• Female CEOs in the survey—27 in total—saw median pay rise 10.7% to $20 million, the largest cohort since 2014
• A 23% gain in the S&P 500 and over 9% growth in corporate profits underpinned the surge in executive pay