According to the Associated Press, after ballooning for years, CEO pay growth is slowing.
The typical compensation package for chief executives who run S&P 500 companies rose just 0.9% last year, to a median of $14.8 million. It was the smallest increase since 2015.
The smaller increase came after CEO pay soared 17% in 2021, when boards rewarded top executives handsomely for steering their companies through the pandemic-induced recession.
Many of the compensation packages were approved early in 2022, but even small raises might seem lavish in retrospect against the backdrop of a year in which stock markets tanked to their worst performance since 2008, inflation erased wage gains, fears of a recession grew, and tech giants began laying off workers.
In contrast to recent years, CEO pay gains were lower than the 5.1% increase in wages and benefits netted by private-sector workers through 2022; however, worker pay failed to keep up with inflation, which was sitting at 6.4% at the end of last year.
The median pay for workers at companies included in the AP survey was $77,178, up 1.3% from $76,160 the previous year.
Executives may see steeper pay cuts in 2023 when boards consider the full effect of the stock market’s downturn.Â
