What is the average Fortune 500 CEO salary? (2024)

FAQs

What is the average Fortune 500 CEO salary? ›

In the past 10 years, CEO pay at S&P 500 companies increased by more than $5 million to an average of $16.7 million in 2022. Meanwhile, the average U.S. worker saw a wage increase of $15,460 over the past decade, earning on average just $61,900 in 2022. Blackstone Inc.

Rising Median CEO Income Hits a Wall

Over the last decade, the median pay awarded to CEOs across S&P 500 companies has doubled. In 2021, this number hit a high of $14.7 million. However, in 2022, the median CEO compensation package hit a wall for the first time in a decade as it slightly fell to $14.5 million.

In 2022, chief executives at early-stage companies that have raised over $10 million in financing were paid just under two hundred thousand dollars a year, $199,000.

For the most recently reported fiscal year (2022), the median CEO pay ratio for S&P 500 companies was 185:1, down from 193:1 for fiscal 2021, but up from 178:1 and 181:1 for fiscal years 2019 and 2020, respectively.

There is no definitive answer to this question as the salary of a CEO can vary greatly depending on the size and type of company they are running. However, a CEO of a 40 million dollar company would likely make an annual salary in the range of 300,000 to 500,000 dollars.

US CEO compensation

By company size, base, bonus, and total cash compensation all rise as revenue does, with total median cash compensation coming in at $1,639,000 at companies with revenue above $1 billion. By industry, CEOs at financial services firms are paid the most: $1,013,000 in median total cash compensation.

In the past 10 years, CEO pay at S&P 500 companies increased by more than $5 million to an average of $16.7 million in 2022. Meanwhile, the average U.S. worker saw a wage increase of $15,460 over the past decade, earning on average just $61,900 in 2022. Blackstone Inc.

$50M to $150M

The highest salary for a CEO in a company with between $50M and $150M in revenue is $500,000. Of the participants in this category, the median salary is $300,000. In terms of bonus percentage, we found that a small majority of participants in this category, 37%, received a 50% bonus or more.

Who else is paid more than $100 million? Camara is one of just nine CEOs with pay packages exceeding $100 million. Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman tops the list with a $253 million pay package last year.

Who gets paid more, CEO or president? ›

Their salaries are astronomically different. CEO's make hundreds of millions of dollars annually; the President makes just under a half million a year.

Talent and Experience: CEOs often bring a wealth of experience, expertise, and knowledge to their roles. Companies aim to attract and retain top executive talent by offering competitive compensation packages that reflect the value and skills CEOs bring to the organization.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 denies corporations tax deductions for all compensation in excess of $1 million going to any of their top 10 executives. A regulation in force since 2018 has required U.S. publicly held corporations to annually report the ratio between their CEO and median worker compensation.

The average CEO salary in the United States is $838,500 as of April 24, 2024, but the range typically falls between $633,700 and $1,080,400. Salary ranges can vary widely depending on many important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, the number of years you have spent in your profession.

CEOs in the 1970s made about one million dollars, or 20 to 30 times the average pay of their company's middle-class workers. The average CEO at a Fortune 500 firm today makes close to $20 million per year, 200 to 300 times the average pay of their typical workers.

CEO in salaries. In most companies, the CEO earns much more than the CFO. According to Salary.com, the average annual salary of a CFO in the US is $420,000, usually ranging from $319,000 to $537,000, while the average salary of a CEO is $800,000 ranging from $420,000 to $1,200,000.

To shed light on key CFO compensation trends, this publication analyzes the compensation packages of top finance officers at S&P 500 companies since 2018. The median total reported compensation for CFOs remained stable at $4.7 million across 2021 and 2022.