It’s good to be the boss.
CEO pay at the nation’s largest companies is 303 times that of the average pay of their employees, according to a new analysis from the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank.
The average total compensation of CEOs at the 350 largest firms, including stock options and other bonuses, came to $16.3 million in 2014, according to EPI. That compares to just over $50,000 in pay for their workers.
The ratio took a big hit in the recession, as CEO pay fell to “only” 196 times greater than their employees’ pay in 2009. But ratio between pay of CEO’s and their workers has risen every year since then, although it was only up very slightly last year compared with 2013.
The biggest pay gap was in 2000, the year that the Internet stock bubble finally burst, when average CEO pay of $20.4 million was 376 times greater than their employee pay.
The study shows CEO pay up 997% since 1978, at the same time that their employee pay has risen only 10.9%.