CEO compensation and the S&P 500 Index (in 2015 dollars), 1965–2015
| Year | CEO compensation (in millions of 2015 dollars) | S&P 500 Index (adjusted to 2015 dollars) |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 0.83246915 | 579.780196 |
| 1966 | 0.89567304 | 544.683525 |
| 1967 | 0.96367558 | 570.432301 |
| 1968 | 1.0368411 | 587.534121 |
| 1969 | 1.04697509 | 558.754669 |
| 1970 | 1.05720812 | 453.448972 |
| 1971 | 1.06754117 | 513.660738 |
| 1972 | 1.07797522 | 553.443074 |
| 1973 | 1.08851124 | 512.549451 |
| 1974 | 1.158957 | 359.14501 |
| 1975 | 1.23396183 | 345.288366 |
| 1976 | 1.31382078 | 386.770386 |
| 1977 | 1.39884802 | 349.798322 |
| 1978 | 1.489378 | 320.60964 |
| 1979 | 1.57597819 | 313.669193 |
| 1980 | 1.66761376 | 325.2654 |
| 1981 | 1.7645775 | 320.406719 |
| 1982 | 1.86717921 | 282.491803 |
| 1983 | 1.97574673 | 363.211037 |
| 1984 | 2.09062692 | 348.773465 |
| 1985 | 2.21218685 | 392.589441 |
| 1986 | 2.3408149 | 488.069777 |
| 1987 | 2.47692206 | 573.081095 |
| 1988 | 2.6209432 | 512.160972 |
| 1989 | 2.77333847 | 596.493338 |
| 1990 | 3.35591292 | 588.663097 |
| 1991 | 4.06086443 | 638.75408 |
| 1992 | 4.91389982 | 688.522601 |
| 1993 | 5.50951856 | 729.746852 |
| 1994 | 4.36257816 | 728.736731 |
| 1995 | 5.8731302 | 837.214565 |
| 1996 | 7.46834699 | 1009.14319 |
| 1997 | 11.3640162 | 1286.75643 |
| 1998 | 16.9333431 | 1577.43679 |
| 1999 | 14.9565789 | 1888.92051 |
| 2000 | 20.4060108 | 1964.3726 |
| 2001 | 11.4406267 | 1598.70599 |
| 2002 | 10.1090633 | 1309.73771 |
| 2003 | 12.9235613 | 1243.7058 |
| 2004 | 14.2041193 | 1418.70245 |
| 2005 | 16.6280358 | 1465.4612 |
| 2006 | 18.526414 | 1540.77411 |
| 2007 | 18.8063022 | 1688.62704 |
| 2008 | 13.2846929 | 1343.11759 |
| 2009 | 10.5841708 | 1047.38695 |
| 2010 | 12.6753123 | 1239.16874 |
| 2011 | 12.8803978 | 1335.79647 |
| 2012 | 15.0141274 | 1423.99357 |
| 2013 | 15.7270991 | 1672.45813 |
| 2014 | 16.4669325 | 1933.78653 |
| 2015 | 15.50249 | 2061.07 |
Note: CEO annual compensation is computed using the "options realized" compensation series, which includes salary, bonus, restricted stock grants, options exercised, and long-term incentive payouts for CEOs at the top 350 U.S. firms ranked by sales.
Source: Authors' analysis of data from Compustat's ExecuComp database and Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.