Executive compensation is one of the clearest windows into how corporate America rewards power, performance, and leverage. For investors, CEO pay is not just a headline-grabbing number. It can also say something about a company’s board, incentive structure, shareholder priorities, and overall corporate culture. But even by modern executive-pay standards, some of the numbers in this group are staggering.
The highest-paid CEOs in the S&P 500 earned tens of millions of dollars in 2025 compensation, and in one case, more than $821 million. That kind of pay package is difficult to put in everyday terms, which is why the CEO-to-median-worker pay ratio is so useful. It shows how much a chief executive earns compared with the typical employee at the same company. At Welltower, CEO Shankh Mitra earned 6,569 times the median employee. At Omnicom, CEO John Wren earned 1,219 times the median employee. At Thermo Fisher Scientific, Marc Casper earned 1,120 times the median employee.
Those ratios do not automatically mean a company is poorly run. Some CEOs oversee enormous global businesses, and many compensation packages are heavily tied to stock awards, long-term incentives, or share-price performance. Several companies on this list, including Netflix, Adobe, KKR, and ServiceNow, also report median employee pay well into six figures, reflecting highly paid workforces in finance, software, media, and technology.
Still, the scale of the gap is hard to ignore. When a CEO can earn hundreds or thousands of times more than the company’s median worker, it raises questions about governance, labor costs, shareholder returns, and who benefits most when corporate profits climb. This list ranks the highest-paid S&P 500 CEOs and shows just how wide the pay gap has become inside some of America’s biggest public companies.
Shankh Mitra Made $821 Million While the Median Welltower Worker Made $124,995
Shankh Mitra, the CEO of Welltower Inc., tops this list with a compensation figure that looks less like a paycheck and more like a national budget line item: $821,090,355. The median employee at Welltower made $124,995, which is a strong salary in normal human terms. But next to Mitra’s pay, it gets swallowed whole. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio comes out to 6,569 to 1. That means for every dollar the median worker earned, the CEO pulled in more than six thousand. At some point, this stops sounding like compensation and starts sounding like a scoreboard for inequality.
David Solomon’s Goldman Payday Hit $118.9 Million
David M. Solomon leads Goldman Sachs Group Inc., one of the most powerful names on Wall Street. His 2025 compensation came in at $118,891,684, while the median Goldman employee earned $160,667. That gives the company a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 740 to 1. Yes, Goldman employees are not exactly scraping by compared with many workers. But the gap is still wild enough to make your calculator sweat. When the boss makes hundreds of times what a typical employee earns, the office pizza party starts feeling a little insulting.
Charles Scharf’s Wells Fargo Pay Was 1,152 Times the Median Worker
Charles W. Scharf is the CEO of Wells Fargo & Company, and his compensation landed at $94,522,642. The median employee at Wells Fargo made $82,044. That creates a pay ratio of 1,152 to 1, which is hard to read without audibly sighing. Banking is stressful for plenty of people who do the day-to-day work with customers, accounts, compliance, and pressure from every direction. Meanwhile, the person at the top is earning a sum most workers could not approach in several lifetimes. It is the kind of number that turns a normal paycheck into a punchline.
Joseph Bae Pulled In $84.3 Million at KKR
Joseph Y. Bae leads KKR & Co. Inc., a giant in private equity and investment management. His compensation was $84,270,205, while the median employee earned $210,000. That works out to a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 401 to 1. The median salary here is high, no question, but the CEO pay still lives on another planet. A worker could earn six figures and still feel like they are standing at the foot of a skyscraper looking up. When $210,000 becomes the small number in the comparison, you know the executive pay scale has left reality behind.
Robin Vince Made $83.5 Million at BNY Mellon
Robin A. Vince, CEO of Bank of New York Mellon Corp., earned $83,495,625 in compensation. The company’s median employee compensation was $81,987. That puts the CEO-to-worker pay ratio at 1,018 to 1. In regular life, $81,987 is the kind of income people build budgets around, pay mortgages with, and hope stretches far enough after bills. In this comparison, it barely registers. The gap is so large that it makes the phrase ‘competitive compensation’ feel like it was written by someone in a corner office with tinted glass.
Marc Casper’s Thermo Fisher Pay Reached Nearly $80 Million
Marc N. Casper leads Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., and his compensation was $79,923,350. The median employee at the company made $71,333. That creates a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 1,120 to 1. Thermo Fisher is tied to serious science, health, and research work, which makes the gap hit even harder. Plenty of employees are helping keep complex systems running while the top job pays like a lottery jackpot. It is tough not to wonder how many raises, bonuses, or extra staff that money could have covered.
Tim Cook’s Apple Pay Was 533 Times the Median Employee
Tim D. Cook, the CEO of Apple Inc., earned $74,294,811 in compensation. The median Apple employee made $139,483. That gives Apple a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 533 to 1. Apple is one of the most valuable and recognizable companies on Earth, so big numbers are not exactly shocking here. Still, the gap is enormous. The average customer sees sleek products and packed stores, but behind that shine is a pay structure where the person at the top earns hundreds of times the median worker. Even in Apple world, that is a pricey upgrade.
John Plant’s Howmet Pay Hit $70.5 Million
John C. Plant leads Howmet Aerospace Inc., and his compensation came to $70,547,718. The company’s median employee compensation was $63,551. That means the CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 1,110 to 1. Aerospace manufacturing is not exactly light work, and the people keeping production moving are part of a high-stakes industrial chain. Yet the pay gap shows just how differently labor and leadership are valued. When the CEO makes more than a thousand times the median worker, the phrase ‘we are all in this together’ starts to sound pretty thin.
Frank Bisignano Collected $70.4 Million at Fiserv
Frank J. Bisignano, CEO of Fiserv Inc., earned $70,447,958 in compensation. The median employee at Fiserv made $88,295. That works out to a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 798 to 1. Fiserv handles financial technology and payment systems, the kind of infrastructure most people use without thinking about it. The workers behind that machine are clearly essential, but the pay comparison makes the hierarchy impossible to miss. If the median employee earns one solid paycheck, the CEO earns something closer to an economic event.
John Wren’s Omnicom Payday Was Almost $70 Million
John D. Wren leads Omnicom Group Inc., and his compensation was $69,865,846. The median employee at Omnicom earned $57,337. That creates a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 1,219 to 1. Advertising and marketing run on deadlines, clients, revisions, late nights, and a lot of creative labor that rarely gets CEO-level applause. The gap here is massive enough to make every status meeting feel different. Workers help make the brand machine run, while the person at the very top takes home a number that belongs in a different universe.
Richard Fairbank Made $64.97 Million at Capital One
Richard D. Fairbank, CEO of Capital One Financial Corp., earned $64,971,137. The median employee compensation at Capital One was $123,454. That puts the CEO-to-worker pay ratio at 526 to 1. Capital One is in the business of credit cards, banking, and consumer finance, so plenty of its customers are familiar with interest rates and monthly payments. Seeing this pay gap adds a new layer to that relationship. While workers earn respectable salaries, the CEO’s compensation is still hundreds of times larger. It is finance math, but not the kind most households get to enjoy.
Anirudh Devgan’s Cadence Pay Reached $56.7 Million
Anirudh Devgan leads Cadence Design Systems Inc., and his compensation came in at $56,683,576. The median employee at Cadence made $95,689. That works out to a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 592 to 1. Cadence plays in the high-tech world of electronic design automation, which means its workforce is tied to complex, valuable expertise. Even so, the pay divide is striking. The employees help build tools that power modern technology, while the person leading the company earns a figure that makes even a strong salary look tiny.
Lisa Su’s AMD Compensation Hit $55.2 Million
Lisa T. Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices Inc., earned $55,161,779 in compensation. The median AMD employee made $161,780. That creates a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 341 to 1. AMD has become a major force in the chip industry, and Su is widely associated with the company’s rise. Still, this list is about scale, and the scale here is huge. Even with a high median employee salary, the CEO’s compensation is hundreds of times larger. In a tech boom, the top floor gets a much bigger slice of the silicon pie.
Greg Peters Made $53.2 Million at Netflix
Greg K. Peters, CEO of Netflix Inc., earned $53,187,307. The median employee compensation at Netflix was $211,201. That gives Netflix a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 252 to 1. Compared with some companies on this list, the ratio is lower, but only because Netflix employees have a very high median salary. The CEO pay is still staggering. Netflix runs on content, technology, data, and a lot of people trying to keep viewers from canceling after one price hike too many. The people doing the work make a lot, but the person at the top makes far, far more.
Bill McDermott’s ServiceNow Pay Topped $51.5 Million
William R. McDermott leads ServiceNow Inc., and his compensation was $51,550,957. The median employee at ServiceNow made $205,259. That creates a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 251 to 1. ServiceNow sits in the enterprise software world, where the numbers are big and the jargon is bigger. Workers at the company are well paid by normal standards, but the executive gap is still giant. A median employee salary over $200,000 sounds impressive until it is placed next to more than $51 million. Suddenly, even a tech salary looks like loose change.
Shantanu Narayen’s Adobe Pay Was $51.2 Million
Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe Inc., earned $51,173,935 in compensation. The median Adobe employee made $235,989. That gives Adobe a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 217 to 1. Adobe workers are clearly among the better-paid employees in this group, which makes the ratio less extreme than others here. But $51 million is still $51 million. The people building and supporting creative software help power entire industries. The person at the top earns enough to make even a quarter-million-dollar salary look like the starter plan.
Marc Benioff’s Salesforce Pay Came In Near $49.4 Million
Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce Inc., earned $49,379,252. The median employee compensation at Salesforce was $166,753. That puts the CEO-to-worker pay ratio at 296 to 1. Salesforce is known for cloud software, corporate culture talk, and massive enterprise deals. But the pay gap here tells a familiar story. The median worker earns a strong salary, but Benioff’s compensation is still hundreds of times larger. It is the kind of corporate math that makes company values sound a lot softer when you put them next to the payroll numbers.
Stephen Squeri Made $46.2 Million at American Express
Stephen J. Squeri leads American Express Co., and his compensation was $46,239,805. The median employee at American Express made $56,827. That creates a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 814 to 1. American Express is built around premium cards, perks, rewards, and financial status. So it feels grimly fitting that the internal pay gap is also premium. A median worker earning $56,827 is living in the real world of rent, groceries, insurance, and bills. The CEO’s pay sits so far above that reality that it might as well come with lounge access.
Bob Iger’s Disney Pay Was 805 Times the Median Worker
Robert A. Iger, CEO of Walt Disney Co., earned $45,851,157 in compensation. The median Disney employee made $56,932. That puts the CEO-to-worker pay ratio at 805 to 1. Disney sells magic, memories, family trips, and nostalgia by the truckload. But behind the castle, the pay gap is not exactly a fairy tale. Many Disney workers are part of the experience guests remember, yet the person at the top earns more than 800 times the median employee. That is enough to make the happiest place on Earth feel a little more complicated.
Larry Culp’s GE Pay Reached $45.6 Million
H. Lawrence Culp Jr., CEO of General Electric Co., earned $45,616,160. The median GE employee made $93,873. That creates a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 486 to 1. GE is an old industrial giant with a long history in American business. The people inside a company like this help make complex operations work, from engineering to manufacturing to corporate support. Yet the gap between the CEO and the median employee is still enormous. Nearly $94,000 is real money for a household, but it is a rounding error next to more than $45 million.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Andrew Clemente.
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