CEOs at these ‘low wage’ S&P 500 companies enjoy lavish salaries while their workers struggle: report
As the wealth gap continues to widen in our K-shaped economy, the gulf between workers and their CEOs is growing too. CEOs of companies on the S&P 500 make, on average, 312 times what their median worker is paid. On a subset of that list, though, the difference is even starker: When looking at the 100 S&P 500 corporations with the lowest median pay, that ratio grows to 615 to 1, up from 566 to 1…
The report "Executive Excess" by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) reveals a stark divide between the soaring salaries of CEOs at certain S&P 500 companies and the meager wages of their workers. These companies, collectively known as the "Low Wage 100," have CEOs who earn an average of 615 times more than their median employee. This ratio has increased from 566 to 1 in 2019, highlighting the widening wealth gap between executives and their employees.
Within this group, median worker pay has risen by 20.7% since 2019, while CEO compensation surged by 41.4%. In 2025, CEOs at these companies earned an average of $17.5 million, whereas median worker pay was $36,571. The report notes that even workers' pay has lagged behind overall inflation, which stood at 25.9% over the same period.
The IPS report highlights how these Low-Wage 100 companies turn a blind eye to government actions that harm their workers, such as cuts to public benefit programs like Medicaid and SNAP, and the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement. Despite the challenges faced by these workers, many CEOs have remained silent on these issues.
For instance, Walmart, the top spender on stock buybacks at $8.1 billion, could have funded a $3,851 bonus for each of its 2.1 million employees. However, Walmart executives did not publicly speak out against the cuts to public assistance programs during the Trump administration's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Similarly, Target, another Low-Wage 100 company, saw ICE agents detain employees in its stores but did not comment on the specific incident.
Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
