Figure A

CEO realized direct compensation and the S&P 500 index (2017 dollars), 1965–2017

Year CEO compensation (in millions of 2017 dollars) S&P 500 index
1965 0.90 588.33
1966 0.97 552.72
1967 1.04 578.84
1968 1.12 596.20
1969 1.13 566.99
1970 1.14 460.14
1971 1.15 521.24
1972 1.17 561.61
1973 1.18 520.11
1974 1.25 364.44
1975 1.33 350.38
1976 1.42 392.47
1977 1.51 354.96
1978 1.61 325.34
1979 1.71 318.46
1980 1.81 330.07
1981 1.91 325.30
1982 2.02 286.82
1983 2.14 368.73
1984 2.26 353.97
1985 2.40 398.42
1986 2.53 495.49
1987 2.68 581.57
1988 2.84 519.99
1989 3.00 605.33
1990 3.63 597.57
1991 4.40 648.20
1992 5.32 698.98
1993 5.61 740.60
1994 4.54 739.60
1995 5.83 849.73
1996 7.60 1,024.45
1997 11.55 1,306.26
1998 16.87 1,601.74
1999 15.22 1,917.74
2000 21.05 1,994.38
2001 11.59 1,622.54
2002 10.09 1,329.52
2003 13.00 1,262.44
2004 14.69 1,439.90
2005 17.80 1,487.05
2006 19.18 1,563.53
2007 19.50 1,713.85
2008 13.70 1,363.14
2009 10.98 1,062.95
2010 12.95 1,257.38
2011 13.26 1,355.47
2012 15.40 1,444.33
2013 15.90 1,696.11
2014 16.84 1,959.66
2015 16.56 2,087.65
2016 16.03 2,094.65
2017 18.86 2,397.52
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Notes: CEO annual compensation is computed using the “options realized” compensation series, which includes salary, bonus, restricted stock grants, options realized, and long-term incentive payouts for CEOs at the top 350 U.S. firms ranked by sales. Projected value for 2017 is based on the change in CEO pay as measured from June 2016 to June 2017 applied to the full-year 2016 value.

Source: Authors’ analysis of data from Compustat’s ExecuComp database and the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) database from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

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