Earlier this year, the New York Times ran an article on the highest-paid CEOs in 2017. Of the 200 CEOs listed, five made more than $50 million, 17 made between $30-49 million, and 178 made between $14-$29 million. So, yes, many CEOs are doing quite well, thank you. But the super-rich CEO is not typical – most make less than doctors. According to Department of Labor, in 2017:
Also according to the DOL, there were 210,160 CEOs employed in 2017. Crunching the numbers, that means CEO salaries in the US totaled $41.2 billion in 2017 ($196,050 x 210,160), which is less than 50 cents per $100 of wages and salaries paid by US employers in 2017 ($41.2 billion/$8.6 trillion). In other words, a drop in the bucket.
How do CEO salaries match up with what other well-paid professionals get? For instance, professional athletics**:
82 NBA players will make at least $14 million the 2018-19 season
Average NBA Player Salary: $7,404,205
61 NFL players will make at least $14 million the 2018 season
Average NFL Player Salary: $2.1 million
75 MLB players will make at least $14 million the 2018 season
Average MLB player salary: $4.52 million
So 218 professional athletes are making at least $14 million this year, compared to 200 CEOs in 2017. And the average pro athlete makes way more than the average CEO. Yet I don’t see much hand-wringing or outrage about what professional athletes get paid. Just the opposite: a lot of people are happy for them. Good for you, Steph!
Why the double-standard? I’m thinking it has to do with “deservingness”. We think athletes deserve what they can get, but CEOs don’t. Why not? Discuss among yourselves.
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* The DOL figure includes CEOs who work for public, non-profit, and for-profit private employers. Further breakdown reveals the average CEO salary for private employers is in the low $200,000s (varies according to the specific industry).
** Data care of spotrac.com. These consider only salaries, not endorsement income.