A newly approved rule means that in a couple of years, we ll have more information about the pay gap between CEOs and workers. Till then, there s this: Average CEO pay is 204 times more than median worker pay, according to new report from jobs site Glassdoor.
The average CEO pay was $13.8 million a year, compared to median worker pay of about $77,800. The information came from executive compensation numbers disclosed in SEC filings, and salary information submitted to Glassdoor over the years by workers across the country.
Google s CEO to worker pay ratio was basically zero, the second lowest ratio on the report s list. In 2014, then-CEO Larry Page officially earned just $1, while the median worker pay at the company was $153,150.
Facebook had the fourth lowest ratio: 4. The median worker pay was $146,120, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg s compensation was $610,455.
The report found that the company with the highest CEO to worker pay ratio of 1,951 is Discovery Communications, where median pay is $80,000 and whose CEO, David Zaslav, earned $156 million in 2014. Chipotle is No. 2 with a ratio of 1,522: CEO Steve Ellis was paid $28.9 million and median worker pay is $19,000. Also in the top 5 are CVS Health ( ratio 1,192), Walmart (1,133) and Target (939).
Here s a look at some tech companies included in the report:
- Nvidia s ratio: 47. CEO Jen-Hsun Huang was paid about $6 million, and median worker pay was $127, 317.
- Apple s ratio: 251. CEO Tim Cook s compensation was $9.2 million, compared with median worker pay of $36,760.
- Yahoo s ratio: 307: CEO Marissa Mayer was paid $42 million, and the median worker pay was about $137,000.
- Oracle s ratio: 573. Then-CEO Larry Ellison was paid $67.3 million, while median worker pay was $117, 415.
In a blog post, Glassdoor Chief Economist Andrew Chamberlain offers some caveats: The report only looked at CEO pay at big, publicly traded companies. These executives may not be representative of CEOs throughout the whole U.S. labor market, Chamberlain said. Also, companies for whom a disproportionate number of low-skilled (or high-skilled) workers have reported their pay on Glassdoor may have median worker pay that is biased downward (or upward). The full report, including methodology, can be found on Glassdoor s website.
Glassdoor s report comes as more investors grumble about executive pay. The New York Times, citing a report by the Economic Policy Institute, notes that 50 years ago, the CEO to worker pay ratio was about 20. By 2013, CEOs were making as much as 300 times as much as their employees, according to that report.
We ve written that Oracle, like other Silicon Valley companies, has faced repeated calls for investors to have say on pay. The Mercury News reported last month in its annual What the Boss Makes survey that shareholders are keeping the pressure on, and some companies are listening.
Investors who want to keep advocating for lower executive compensation — and people who want to improve worker pay — will eventually have more ammunition. Earlier this month, the SEC approved a rule that will require publicly traded companies to disclose the ratio of CEO compensation to worker pay. The rule will take effect in 2017.
Photo illustration from Bay Area News Group archives
