CEOs got an 11% pay raise in 2025. Workers got 0.5% (20X faster)

[Bamaro]

The leaders of some of the world’s biggest companies got an 11% pay bump last year, while the average worker globally got a measly 0.5% increase. That means CEO pay grew roughly 20 times faster than that of the average worker, according to a Friday study published by the International Trade Union Confederation and Oxfam.

The report, which looked at 1,500 companies across 33 countries, found that the average CEO was paid about $8.4 million last year, up from an average of $5.5 million in 2019.

CEOs got an 11% pay raise in 2025. Workers got 0.5% | Fortune

A new ITUC-Oxfam report covering 1,500 companies found CEO pay is outpacing worker wages by a factor of 20—and the gap is only getting wider.

fortune.com

 

[mdb-tpet]

The leaders of some of the world’s biggest companies got an 11% pay bump last year, while the average worker globally got a measly 0.5% increase. That means CEO pay grew roughly 20 times faster than that of the average worker, according to a Friday study published by the International Trade Union Confederation and Oxfam.

The report, which looked at 1,500 companies across 33 countries, found that the average CEO was paid about $8.4 million last year, up from an average of $5.5 million in 2019.

CEOs got an 11% pay raise in 2025. Workers got 0.5% | Fortune

A new ITUC-Oxfam report covering 1,500 companies found CEO pay is outpacing worker wages by a factor of 20—and the gap is only getting wider.

fortune.com

We're in serious need of a minimum income and wealth tax and to throw out all of the tax loopholes.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

What is a raise? Never heard of such a thing.

 

[75thru79]

We're in serious need of a minimum income and wealth tax and to throw out all of the tax loopholes.

This has absolutely nothing to do with taxes. The problem lies in how corporate governance works. Did you know that shareholders have almost no say in how much a CEO is paid? Yes, you heard that right. For public companies at least, the salaries and benefits are set by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. No shareholder approval required. Guess who sits on these boards? Other CEOs and friends. The only rights you have as a shareholder is to vote for the Board members. Not the Compensation Commiitte, the actual Board members themselves. So, you can "punish" a board member who votes for a high salary by not voting for their re-election. Big whoop. The salaries are set by this committee and you have no direct say in the pay. Also, they hire high-powered consultants that produce massive amounts of "reports" that justify the CEOs pay by looking at what everyone else is getting. You can bet if the GM Chairman gets a 15% raise then Ford, Tesla, etc. are all going to get a 15% raise so that they don't "lose" them to a competitor.

The fix is simple. Have the SEC change the corporate governance rules so that the compensation of the executive suite is set via shareholder vote. No longer hiding behind the Compensation Committee. I can guarantee you that this one change would have a drastic effect on CEO pay, for the better.

 

[Bamaro]

This has absolutely nothing to do with taxes. The problem lies in how corporate governance works. Did you know that shareholders have almost no say in how much a CEO is paid? Yes, you heard that right. For public companies at least, the salaries and benefits are set by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. No shareholder approval required. Guess who sits on these boards? Other CEOs and friends. The only rights you have as a shareholder is to vote for the Board members. Not the Compensation Commiitte, the actual Board members themselves. So, you can "punish" a board member who votes for a high salary by not voting for their re-election. Big whoop. The salaries are set by this committee and you have no direct say in the pay. Also, they hire high-powered consultants that produce massive amounts of "reports" that justify the CEOs pay by looking at what everyone else is getting. You can bet if the GM Chairman gets a 15% raise then Ford, Tesla, etc. are all going to get a 15% raise so that they don't "lose" them to a competitor.

The fix is simple. Have the SEC change the corporate governance rules so that the compensation of the executive suite is set via shareholder vote. No longer hiding behind the Compensation Committee. I can guarantee you that this one change would have a drastic effect on CEO pay, for the better.

IOW, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

This has absolutely nothing to do with taxes. The problem lies in how corporate governance works. Did you know that shareholders have almost no say in how much a CEO is paid? Yes, you heard that right. For public companies at least, the salaries and benefits are set by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. No shareholder approval required. Guess who sits on these boards? Other CEOs and friends. The only rights you have as a shareholder is to vote for the Board members. Not the Compensation Commiitte, the actual Board members themselves. So, you can "punish" a board member who votes for a high salary by not voting for their re-election. Big whoop. The salaries are set by this committee and you have no direct say in the pay. Also, they hire high-powered consultants that produce massive amounts of "reports" that justify the CEOs pay by looking at what everyone else is getting. You can bet if the GM Chairman gets a 15% raise then Ford, Tesla, etc. are all going to get a 15% raise so that they don't "lose" them to a competitor.

The fix is simple. Have the SEC change the corporate governance rules so that the compensation of the executive suite is set via shareholder vote. No longer hiding behind the Compensation Committee. I can guarantee you that this one change would have a drastic effect on CEO pay, for the better.

Not sure that fully fixes the issue but it would at least be a start. You'd still need shareholders to actually care and to be informed.

 

[arthurdawg]

This has absolutely nothing to do with taxes. The problem lies in how corporate governance works. Did you know that shareholders have almost no say in how much a CEO is paid? Yes, you heard that right. For public companies at least, the salaries and benefits are set by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. No shareholder approval required. Guess who sits on these boards? Other CEOs and friends. The only rights you have as a shareholder is to vote for the Board members. Not the Compensation Commiitte, the actual Board members themselves. So, you can "punish" a board member who votes for a high salary by not voting for their re-election. Big whoop. The salaries are set by this committee and you have no direct say in the pay. Also, they hire high-powered consultants that produce massive amounts of "reports" that justify the CEOs pay by looking at what everyone else is getting. You can bet if the GM Chairman gets a 15% raise then Ford, Tesla, etc. are all going to get a 15% raise so that they don't "lose" them to a competitor.

The fix is simple. Have the SEC change the corporate governance rules so that the compensation of the executive suite is set via shareholder vote. No longer hiding behind the Compensation Committee. I can guarantee you that this one change would have a drastic effect on CEO pay, for the better.

A good start...

 

[Bamabuzzard]

If you want to start changing stuff like this, you use the tax law to incentivize change. For example, have a tax law/code that states if the salaries of "Key" employees reach a certain % higher than the average salary of non-Key employees, have the company pay what is equivalent to the MLB's "luxury tax". On the other end, if the company gives raises that reach a certain % of the average salary of non-Key employees, give the company some form of tax break/credit, etc. The government would still be getting their money via the increased wages and withholdings of the employees' raises.