These Four CEOs Collectively Earned $100 Million Compensation In 2025, Largest Payout Went To…

Last Updated:May 01, 2026, 16:52 IST

At current levels, it would take an average worker around 490 years to earn what a CEO makes in a single year.

Four of the world’s biggest companies — Blackstone, Broadcom, Goldman Sachs and Microsoft — paid their chief executives more than $100 million each in 2025.

The payouts place these bosses among the highest earners globally, with the top 10 CEOs together taking home more than $1 billion last year. Overall, the average chief executive earned $8.4 million in pay and bonuses in 2025, up from $7.6 million the previous year, according to an analysis of 1,500 leading firms across 33 countries.

The findings, compiled by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Oxfam, revealed how executive rewards continue to pull away from typical incomes. At current levels, it would take an average worker around 490 years to earn what a CEO makes in a single year.

CEO Pay Grew 20 Times Faster

The report, published ahead of ahead of International Workers’ Day, also found that global CEO pay rose 11 per cent in real terms in 2025, while global workers saw wages increase by just 0.5 per cent. This means executive earnings grew 20 times faster than those of ordinary workers.

The divide has widened over time. Since 2019, real wages for workers have effectively fallen by 12 per cent, while CEO compensation has jumped by 54 per cent. In the United States, the gap is even more pronounced, with CEO pay rising more than 20 times faster than worker wages. Among S&P 500 firms, executive pay climbed 25 per cent in a year, compared with a modest 1.3 per cent rise in average hourly earnings.

News world These Four CEOs Collectively Earned $100 Million Compensation In 2025, Largest Payout Went To…

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