The typical compensation package for CEOs at major U.S. public companies rose nearly 6% in 2025 to $17.7 million, according to the Associated Press’ annual CEO Compensation Survey.

AP said boards rewarded top executives for stronger profits and higher stock prices while also structuring pay packages to keep leaders in place and incentivized to drive shareholder returns.

In the Store: NAW’s Executive Compensation Study 

The survey found that median employee pay at S&P 500 companies increased 4.7% year-over-year to $89,744. The AP noted that the gain outpaced inflation in 2025, though many workers continued to face pressure from elevated prices accumulated over the past several years.

Key findings from the AP’s survey include:

• The typical CEO pay package rose nearly 6% to $17.7 million in 2025
• Median employee pay at surveyed S&P 500 companies increased 4.7% to $89,744
• At half of surveyed companies, it would take a median employee 200 years to earn what the CEO earned in one year, up from 192 years in last year’s survey
• Average shareholder support for CEO pay packages through non-binding “say on pay” votes was about 90%
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk received the largest compensation package in the survey, valued at $132.3 billion, entirely in stock awards tied to ambitious long-term company targets
• Welltower CEO Shankh Mitra received the second-largest package at $821.1 million, largely in stock awards tied to future performance
• Broadcom CEO Hock Tan’s package, valued at $205.3 million, was tied in part to increasing revenue from artificial intelligence
• Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser received a package valued at $95.8 million, the highest in the survey among women CEOs and the highest-ever for a woman CEO in the AP’s survey history
• The median compensation for women CEOs in the survey fell 2.6% to $18.1 million, while median compensation for male CEOs rose 6.4% to $17.7 million

The AP noted that modern CEO compensation packages are typically weighted heavily toward stock awards rather than salary, bonus and perks. Many of those awards cannot be realized for years, or at all, unless a company meets specific performance targets such as higher stock prices, market value or operating profits.

Methodology note: The AP’s CEO compensation survey used data analyzed by Equilar and included 337 executives at S&P 500 companies who had served at least two full consecutive fiscal years at their companies and whose proxy statements were filed between Jan. 1-April 30, 2026