The average CEO of the US’s ۱۰۰ largest, lowest-paying corporations earned ۶۱۴ times more than their average worker last year, according to an analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS).
IPS’s latest executive excess report analyzed compensation at the ۱۰۰ S&P ۵۰۰ corporations with the lowest median worker pay. Between ۲۰۱۹ and ۲۰۲۵, CEO compensation increased ۴۱.۴%, unadjusted for inflation, twice as much as the median worker pay increased at these firms during the same period, at ۲۰.۷%.
Inflation also outpaced worker pay increases, rising by ۲۵.۹%.
CEO to worker pay ratio at the low-wage ۱۰۰ firms increased ۸.۴% between ۲۰۱۹ and ۲۰۲۵.
The average CEO compensation among low-wage ۱۰۰ corporations was $۱۷.۵m in ۲۰۲۵, compared to median worker pay of $۳۶,۵۷۱.
The wealth of at least ۳۶ billionaires is linked to these low-wage ۱۰۰ corporations, including Walmart’s eight Walton family members, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Mackenzie Scott, and Carvana co-founders Ernie Garcia II and Ernie Garcia III.
“This is really a big problem for society, that we have such extremes,” said Sarah Anderson, lead author of the report and director of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.
“To me, it seems like these CEOs are just living on a remote economic planet from the one that their employees are living on, and it makes it really hard for them to fathom what it’s like to have to worry about putting food on your family’s table or even coming home at night if you are at risk of being detained by ICE.”
The report notes that the low-wage ۱۰۰ corporations have a combined force of ۱,۲۸۲ registered federal lobbyists and that many of these companies did not denounce aggressive immigration enforcement actions toward their workforce or on their property.
“Low-wage workers are now facing the biggest cuts to Medicaid and Snap [food benefits] in history. Many of the employees at these companies have to rely on those programs, and then so many of them have also been terrorized and detained by ICE agents,” added Anderson. “So it’s really astounding that the leaders of these companies have turned a blind eye to this surge of threats against many of their workers, and instead they’ve just continue to be fixated on enriching themselves.”
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Stock buybacks among these firms increased in ۲۰۲۵, to $۱۰۸.۶bn from $۱۰۵bn in ۲۰۲۴. Between ۲۰۱۹ and ۲۰۲۵, the low-wage ۱۰۰ firms spent $۷۱۸bn on stock buybacks.
Among the ۱۰۰ low-wage firms, Walmart spent the most on stock buybacks, at $۸.۱bn, equivalent to a $۳,۸۵۱ bonus to each of the company’s ۲.۱ million workers. Walmart’s CEO, Doug McMillan, who stepped down in January ۲۰۲۶, received $۲۹.۲m in compensation in ۲۰۲۵, ۹۵۸ times more than the median worker pay at Walmart of $۳۰,۵۲۰.
The report cites several policy solutions to excessive executive pay at corporations, including a tax hike on corporations that pay CEOs more than ۵۰ times what they pay their median employees, an increase on stock buyback taxes and leveraging government contracts and subsidies to bar contractors from engaging in stock buybacks.
Walmart did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
