CEOs Earn 614 Times More Than Workers at US’s 100 Lowest‑Paying Corporations, Report Finds

An analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) found that in 2025 the average chief executive at the 100 S&P 500 corporations with the lowest median worker pay took home $17.5 million — 614 times the median pay of $36,571 for employees at those firms. The study, released as the 32nd Executive Excess report, says CEO pay rose faster than worker pay and inflation between 2019 and 2025 and highlights buybacks, lobbying and billionaire wealth linked to these companies as contributing concerns.

Key findings from the IPS analysis

The report focuses on the so-called “Low‑Wage 100” — the S&P 500 companies with the lowest median employee wages — and reports several headline figures for 2025:

• Average CEO compensation at the Low‑Wage 100: $17.5 million.
• Median worker pay across those firms: $36,571.
• Average CEO‑to‑worker pay ratio: 614 to 1.
• Change, 2019–2025 (nominal): CEO pay +41.4%; median worker pay +20.7%.
• US inflation, 2019–2025: 25.9%, meaning median worker pay gains lagged inflation.

Which companies and executives stood out?

The IPS data and reporting by InvestmentNews and other outlets identify specific examples within the Low‑Wage 100 but do not present a single ranking in the available packet. InvestmentNews notes:

• IBM CEO Arvind Krishna had one of the largest packages in the group, with $38 million in total pay in 2025, which the outlet reported as 765 times IBM’s median pay of $49,630.
• New Lumentum CEO Michael Hurlston recorded an extreme gap in 2025: $27.7 million in pay versus a $9,595 median wage for the firm, a ratio InvestmentNews reported as 2,884 to 1.
• Western Digital had the lowest reported median worker pay among the group at $8,740, reflecting a workforce heavily based outside the United States.
• Walmart was the biggest single buyback spender among the Low‑Wage 100 in 2025, with $8.1 billion in repurchases; IPS calculated that amount could be equivalent to a $3,851 bonus for each of Walmart’s roughly 2.1 million employees.
• Doug McMillon, who stepped down as Walmart CEO on January 31, 2026, earned $29.2 million in 2025 — reported as 958 times Walmart’s 2025 median pay of $30,520 — and InvestmentNews reported his retirement package includes deferred compensation valued at $169 million.

Stock buybacks, billionaire wealth and political activity

The IPS report links large-scale stock repurchases, concentrated wealth and lobbying to the broader picture the authors draw. The analysis found that:

• Collective stock buybacks by the Low‑Wage 100 totaled $108.6 billion in 2025 and $718 billion across 2019–2025.
• Stock‑based awards constitute a substantial share of CEO pay at large firms, which the report argues ties buybacks to higher executive compensation.
• At least 36 billionaires’ fortunes are directly tied to companies in the Low‑Wage 100; the report cites examples including members of the Walton family and founders associated with Amazon and Carvana.
• The 100 firms employ a combined 1,282 registered federal lobbyists, according to the IPS analysis.

What the researchers recommended

IPS offered a range of policy proposals and argued for heightened public accountability. Among the remedies the report describes are:

• A higher corporate tax on firms that pay CEOs more than 50 times the median employee pay.
• An increase in the excise tax on stock buybacks and stricter limits on buybacks for companies receiving government contracts or subsidies.
• Using federal contracting rules and subsidy conditions to discourage buybacks and link taxpayer support to worker pay standards.

Voices and reactions in the report

Sarah Anderson, director of the Global Economy Project and the IPS report’s lead author, is quoted in the IPS materials describing the gap between executives and workers as striking and socially harmful; she also highlighted corporate silence during an uptick in immigration enforcement and cuts to public assistance, according to The Guardian and other coverage of the report. InvestmentNews and the International Business Times (IBT) cited Anderson’s remarks in their coverage.

Context and implications for U.S. workers and policy

The report frames its findings against several trends with direct U.S. policy relevance. First, median pay growth at the Low‑Wage 100 lagged overall inflation from 2019 through 2025, implying real‑terms declines for many workers. Second, the prominence of buybacks has governance and fiscal implications: IPS and InvestmentNews note that buybacks can concentrate returns to shareholders and executives rather than raising wages or expanding investment. Third, the identified lobbying presence points to potential influence over tax, labor and procurement rules that affect the federal government’s ability to address compensation policy.

Investor and governance angles

InvestmentNews reported growing investor scrutiny of CEO pay ratios and governance, noting that some institutional investors view extreme gaps as a red flag for long‑term value creation. The IPS report also cited SEC findings that executives disproportionately sell shares around buyback announcements, a detail the authors use to support concerns about who benefits most from repurchases.

Disagreements and limits of the analysis

The packet’s sources draw from the IPS Executive Excess report and news coverage that restates the IPS findings; they do not provide independent company responses or alternative calculations. Several caveats are therefore important:

• The wage and compensation figures are presented by IPS and reported by outlets in the packet; direct confirmation from the companies named was not included in the material provided here.
• Median pay statistics across large corporations can reflect substantial variation in workforce composition (for example, a large share of overseas workers or part‑time staff), which affects comparisons; InvestmentNews notes Western Digital’s low median wage reflects a largely Asia‑based workforce.
• Some policy proposals in the report — such as applying tax penalties based on pay ratios or altering buyback tax rates — are presented as recommendations; the packet does not include analysis of their potential economic effects or legislative prospects beyond reporting that a bipartisan provision in a Senate defense bill would restrict buybacks for military contractors.

Timeline of relevant data points (2019–2026)

1. 2019–2025: IPS reports CEO pay at Low‑Wage 100 rose 41.4% nominally; median worker pay rose 20.7%; US inflation over the period was 25.9% (all figures from the IPS analysis reported in the packet).
2. 2025: Average CEO pay at the Low‑Wage 100 reported at $17.5 million; median worker pay $36,571; buybacks by the group $108.6 billion for the year.
3. January 31, 2026: Doug McMillon stepped down as Walmart CEO (reported in InvestmentNews coverage of the IPS data).
4. July 2026: InvestmentNews cited Jeff Bezos’s net worth and reported his formal 2025 compensation of $1.68 million while noting his personal fortune grew over the year (InvestmentNews used Forbes data in its analysis referenced in the packet).

What remains unresolved

The IPS report raises several empirical and policy questions that the packet does not settle:

• How would proposed tax or buyback reforms perform in practice at scale, and what would be the distributional effects across workers, shareholders and long‑term investment?
• To what extent do company‑level factors — such as international workforce composition, part‑time staffing or business model — fully account for low median pay at particular firms?
• How did the named companies individually respond to the IPS findings; the packet records that Walmart and DoorDash did not provide comments to IPS and that corporate representatives largely declined to answer in other reporting.

Why this matters for U.S. audiences

The analysis directly concerns U.S. public policy and the national conversation about income inequality, corporate governance and the use of taxpayer dollars through contracts and subsidies. By documenting a widening pay gap at large public corporations that employ millions of U.S. workers, the IPS findings add data to debates over whether federal policy should tie corporate benefits to worker pay standards, tighten rules governing buybacks, or change tax incentives that shape executive compensation.

Key takeaways

• IPS reports the average CEO at the 100 S&P 500 firms with the lowest median worker wages earned $17.5 million in 2025 — 614 times the median employee pay of $36,571.
• Between 2019 and 2025 CEO pay grew faster than worker pay and outpaced inflation, implying real‑terms losses for many workers in the Low‑Wage 100.
• The report highlights $718 billion in buybacks across 2019–2025 for these firms, a concentrated billionaire wealth linked to the group, and substantial federal lobbying by the same companies.
• IPS recommends policy options including higher taxes on high pay ratios and tighter limits or taxes on buybacks; the packet does not include independent evaluation of those proposals.