The message that has helped propel Bernie Sanders to the front-runner position of the Democratic primaries has been one that calls out inequality and a growing divide between the rich and the poor.
“CEO compensation is going to be a focus area for U.S. politicians,” Jefferies noted, and highlighted 50 companies with the highest disclosed CEO-to-median-worker pay ratio for 2018 and 2019. Of those, 10 of them showed a crater-size difference, with the CEOs going home with 1,000 times the median worker or more in total compensation. The average, according to Jefferies is 250 times, but federal data from 2018 showed it was even more — 287 times.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, CEO compensation has grown 940% since 1978 while a typical worker’s compensation has only risen 12%.