C-suite leaders earning almost 324 times to average pay of median workers: Report

According to a top American labor union, S&P 500 (.SPX) chief executives made $18.3 million on average in 2021, which is 324 times the pay of their median workers and higher than the ratio in 2020. 

Corporate leaders' raises far outpaced wage gains that failed to keep up with inflation, said the AFL-CIO, in an annual report that has become widely cited as a measure of U.S. inequality trends.

Reuters reported that The 2021 CEO-to-worker ratio in the S&P 500 was the widest since 2018, when the federation was first able to track the figure based on new disclosures. The ratio was 299-to-1 in 2020.

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) CEO Andy Jassy’s total compensation of $212.7 million last year was 6,474 times that of its median worker. That was the highest ratio out of all S&P 500 companies based on their latest proxy statements, the AFL-CIO said. To the reply, a spokesperson for Amazon said that Jassy's compensation was "competitive with that of CEOs at other large companies" as it vests over 10 years.

"It's another version of more for them and less for us," said AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond on a conference call while introducing the report.