Media clips
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For every dollar made by the average Facebook employee, Mark Zuckerberg earned $37 in 2017. As far as CEO pay goes, that’s nothing. The CEOs of America’s top 350 publicly held companies earned an average of $18.9 million in wages, bonuses, and stock options last year, or 312 times more than their workers, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute. Per the Guardian, such an “astronomical gap” hasn’t been seen since the eve of the 2007 financial crisis. The 17.6% increase in average CEO pay, compared to 0.3% for workers, had a lot to do with a booming stock market, but it’s also part of a larger trend. Since 2009, average CEO pay has risen 72%, compared to about 2% for workers, who now make $54,600 on average. “It speaks to the degree the economic recovery is unbalanced,” report co-author Larry Mishel tells the Washington Post, which describes CEO-to-worker pay ratios of 3,101-to-1 for McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook and 1,188-to-1 for Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. “Had there not been the redistribution upward … the wages of the bottom 90% could have grown twice as fast as it actually did,” Mishel tells the Guardian. Per the Post, 2018 figures could be even worse for workers given the tax package signed into law last fall; critics say it will make the rich richer, though Republican backers claim it will increase wages across the board.
Newser August 17, 2018 -
Congratulations to Amazon kingpin Jeff Bezos for amassing a personal wealth of $154 billion dollars, more than the GDP of Guatemala! According to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute, he is among the 350 CEOs who earned, on average, 312 times more than their employees last year. While Bezos is now officially the richest man in the world, he has been doing pretty great for awhile: In 2017 he took home $1.7 million, or 59 times an average Amazon worker’s pay. McDonald CEO Steve Easterbrook made 3,101 times his average worker, earning $21.7 million. Must be nice. (whole story)
Jezebel August 17, 2018 -
It was good to be a CEO in 2017. Less so for the typical worker at one of the nation’s largest 350 publicly traded companies. Average compensation for CEOs rose by 17.6 percent to $18.9 million last year – more than 58 times the 0.3 percent increase in pay that typical workers in those industries received, according to a new report. The latest numbers mean CEOs earned $312 for every $1 earned by average workers, according to the analysis by Washington D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute. (whole story)
The Daily Mail August 17, 2018 -
It’s certainly true that Donald Trump, despite grumbling about the Obama-era reform, never tried to halt it. That is why the average 312-to-one ratio cited by the Economic Policy Institute, which crunched the US numbers, looks statistically solid. The missing part, however, is evidence that transparency produces anything resembling restraint. The mythical firm of Ratchet, Ratchet & Bingo – Warren Buffett’s name for tame compensation consultants who bid up boardroom pay – looks to be alive and well in the US and as shameless as ever.
The Guardian August 17, 2018 -
The latest evidence came Thursday from the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute, which found that CEO pay at the biggest American corporations skyrocketed another 18 percent in 2017, to a lofty average of $18.9 million, much of that fueled by stock options and buybacks. And hey, everybody deserves a raise, right? But here’s the thing: While CEOs have seen their salaries soar 72 percent during the comeback from the Great Recession — 2009-2017 — the average workers has gotten a measly 2 percent raise, according to the EPI.
The Philadelphia Inquirer August 17, 2018 -
Wal-Mart’s strong earnings report pleases investors, while retail rivals stumble. Trinity Chavez looks at Samsung’s R&D spending – and results – while Danielle DiMartino Booth discusses Qatar’s credit offer to Turkey, and Venezuela’s sanction-busting bond sale. A new report from the Economic Policy Institute says CEO pay and inequality are reaching new heights – or lows – while an environmental working group says a probable carcinogen may be in your favorite cereal. Lauren Fix introduces us to Turkish automakers, and Steve Malzberg looks at the sports drink sequel to the “Cola Wars” of past decades. (video)
RT August 17, 2018 -
A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute shows that top managers are getting higher compensation every year, while their employees’ salaries barely change. “In 2017 the average CEO of the 350 largest firms in the US received $18.9 million in compensation, a 17.6 percent increase over 2016. The typical worker’s compensation remained flat, rising a mere 0.3 percent,” the report said. “The 2017 CEO-to-worker compensation ratio of 312-to-1 was far greater than the 20-to-1 ratio in 1965 and more than five times greater than the 58-to-1 ratio in 1989.” (whole article)
RT August 17, 2018 -
The chief executives of America’s top 350 companies earned 312 times more than their workers on average last year, a new report published by the Economic Policy Institute reports. The rise came after the bosses of the United States’s largest companies got an average pay raise of 17.6 percent in 2017. This means they were compensated an average of $18.9 million. Meanwhile, employee wages stalled, rising just 0.3 percent over the year. (whole article)
RealClearLife August 17, 2018 -
There’s new data to back up the nagging feeling that millions of U.S. workers experience every payday: Their bosses really are making hundreds of times the amount the average worker does. On average, that would be 312 times, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, which analyzed the 2017 compensation of chief executives from America’s 350 top companies. (whole article)
Truthdig August 17, 2018 -
CEO pay spiked to $18.9 million in 2017 if you include realized stock options, according to a new Economic Policy Institute report looking at average CEO pay for the 350 largest firms. That’s a 17.6 percent increase over 2016, and a 1,070 percent increase since 1978—a time period during which average worker pay rose just 11.2 percent. Another measure, counting stock options granted rather than stock options realized, found that CEO pay rose from $13 million to $13.3 million. The answer to the standard defense of high CEO pay is no, they’re not worth it. While CEO pay grew 1,070 percent by the first measure and 979 percent by the second between 1978 and 2017, the stock market grew by 637 percent. Even the top 0.1 percent of earners saw an increase of “only” 308 percent during that time. Not to mention that “Higher CEO pay does not reflect correspondingly higher output or better firm performance. Exorbitant CEO pay therefore means that the fruits of economic growth are not going to ordinary workers.” (whole article)
Daily Kos August 17, 2018