The 25 CEOs whose pay is most wildly out of proportion to shareholder return
- Check out which 25 CEOs on the S&P 500 earn a salary that's higher than expected, given shareholder return.
- The list appears in a report from As You Sow, a nonprofit focused on shareholder advocacy.
- As You Sow also calculated the ratio of CEO pay to median employee pay.
- Ronald F. Clarke, CEO of Fleetcor Technologies Inc., took the top spot: He makes about $53 million a year, which means he's overpaid by 263%.
Most CEOs make a lot of money. No surprise there.
In fact, the typical CEO made a whopping 312 times their median employees' salary in 2017, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
But some chief executives earn salaries that are seemingly disproportionate to their company's shareholder returns. A new report from As You Sow, a nonprofit focused on shareholder advocacy, ranks the most "overpaid" leaders on the S&P 500.
To figure out who's overpaid, As You Sow calculated the ratio of CEO pay in 2018 to total shareholder return at each company, as well as the companies where the most shares were voted against the CEO pay package (the first ratio was weighted double).
Ronald F. Clarke, CEO of Fleetcor Technologies Inc., which makes corporate payment products, took the No. 1 spot. According to the analysis, Clarke is overpaid by 263%. His expected pay based on Fleetcor's performance is $14,483,985; his actual pay is $52,643,810. Per the report, 86% of shareholders voted against Clarke's pay package.
Because there was a change in CEO at a few companies (Oracle Corp., The Walt Disney Co., TransDigm Group, Inc., and Discovery, Inc.), the salary of the higher-paid CEO was counted.
Below, we've listed the 25 most overpaid CEOs, as well as each of their salaries, the median employee salary at their company, and the pay ratio.
25. Randall Stephenson, AT&T, Inc.
CEO pay: $28,720,720
Median employee pay: $78,437
Pay ratio: 366:1
24. Reed Hastings, Netflix, Inc.
CEO pay: $24,377,499
Median employee pay: $183,304
Pay ratio: 133:1
23. Paal Kibsgaard, Schlumberger NV
CEO pay: $20,759,340
Median employee pay: $88,604
Pay ratio: 234:1
22. Brenton Saunders, Allergan Plc
CEO pay: $32,827,626
Median employee pay: $94,064
Pay ratio: 349:1
21. Brian Roberts, Comcast Corp.
CEO pay: $32,520,224
Median employee pay: $71,006
Pay ratio: 458:1
20. Ari Bousbib, IQVIA Holdings, Inc.
CEO pay: $38,029,517
Median employee pay: $97,997
Pay ratio: 388:1
19. Richard B. Handler, Jefferies Financial Group, Inc.
CEO pay: $21,787,285
Median employee pay: $44,584
Pay ratio: 489:1
18. Leonard S. Schleifer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CEO pay: $26,508,058
Median employee pay: $123,418
Pay ratio: 215:1
17. Mark D. Okerstrom, Expedia Group, Inc.
CEO pay: $30,720,457
Median employee pay: $71,696
Pay ratio: 428:1
16. Jeffrey A. Miller, Halliburton Co.
CEO pay: $23,078,364
Median employee pay: $79,636
Pay ratio: 290:1
15. Debra A. Cafaro, Ventas, Inc.
CEO pay: $25,254,607
Median employee pay: $88,630
Pay ratio: 285:1
14. James Cracchiolo, Ameriprise Financial, Inc.
CEO pay: $23,900,309
Median employee pay: $107,082
Pay ratio: 223:1
13. Gary A. Norcross, Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.
CEO pay: $29,141,610
Median employee pay: $44,556
Pay ratio: 654:1
12. Stephen Kaufer, TripAdvisor, Inc.
CEO pay: $47,933,462
Median employee pay: $99,643
Pay ratio: 481:1
11. David M. Zaslav, Discovery, Inc.
CEO pay: $42,247,984
Median employee pay: $80,858
Pay ratio: 522:1
10. E. Hunter Harrison, CSX Corp.
CEO pay: $151,147,286
Median employee pay: $98,697
Pay ratio: 1531:1
9. Margaret H. Georgiadis, Mattel, Inc.
CEO pay: $31,275,289
Median employee pay: $6,271
Pay ratio: 4,987:1
8. Brian Duperreault, American International Group, Inc.
CEO pay: $43,086,861
Median employee pay: $64,186
Pay ratio: 671:1
7. W. Nicholas Howley, TransDigm Group, Inc.
CEO pay: $61,023,102
Median employee pay: $46,742
Pay ratio: 1,306:1
6. Robert Iger, The Walt Disney Co.
CEO pay: $36,283,680
Median employee pay: $46,127
Pay ratio: 787:1
5. Stephen Wynn, Wynn Resorts Ltd.
CEO pay: $34,522,695
Median employee pay: $44,437
Pay ratio: 777:1
4. Dirk Van de Put, Mondelez International, Inc.
CEO pay: $42,442,924
Median employee pay: $42,893
Pay ratio: 990:1
3. Hock Tan, Broadcom, Inc.
CEO pay: $103,211,163
Median employee pay: NA
Pay ratio: NA
2. Mark V. Hurd/Safra Catz, Oracle Corp.
CEO pay: $81,562,244
Median employee pay: $89,887
Pay ratio: 907:1
1. Ronald F. Clarke, Fleetcor Technologies Inc
CEO pay: $52,643,810
Median employee pay: $34,700
Pay ratio: 1,517:1