McDonald’s CEO Makes an Hour What the Average Worker Makes a Year

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) has been among the American companies that pay its workers the least. As some evidence of the ongoing pay problem at the fast-food chain, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has released the compensation of McDonald’s CEO Stephen Easterbrook. He was paid $15.9 million in 2018. That is 2,124 times the median employee salary of $7,473. It means that Easterbrook, who has been CEO since 2015, earns in an hour what it takes a median employee to make in a year, according to data from public company intelligence firm MyLogIQ.

Easterbrook’s pay ratio is the sixth highest among chief executives included in MyLogIQ’s data. In our earlier report on the 100 highest-paid CEOs, Easterbrook was number 57. It is not the first year he has been paid well. He made $21.8 million in 2017.

Uber Drivers React to CEO Pay

In a highly anticipated announcement, Uber this month took the leap to go public. In the ride-hailing company’s registration statement, the company revealed that its top officers raked in between nearly $10 million and $48 million last year.

Directors serving on the boards of the new gig-economy unicorns that either have filed or are expected to file IPOs this year face different compensation challenges from some traditional companies, particularly because their workers are classified as contractors, not employees.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was tasked with coming in to replace disgraced co-founder Travis Kalanick and clean up the brand after reports of companywide sexual harassment and discrimination surfaced in 2017. Khosrowshahi has a pay package worth more than $45 million, which is arguably in line with chief executives in his peer group, but given Uber’s non-traditional workforce, its past problems and its veritable online existence, it remains to be seen whether Khosrowshahi’s pay appears appropriate in the eyes of the company’s drivers.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon’s Total Pay Was Nearly $24 Million Last Year

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon’s total compensation reached nearly $24 million during the last year as the company continued to hold its ground against Amazon and other rival retailers.

McMillon’s salary was about $1.3 million and he was eligible for stock awards based on performance and values at $15.6 million. He is also eligible for about $6.7 million in incentives and other forms of compensation.
That’s about 3.5% more than McMillon’s total compensation in the prior fiscal year. It’s also 1,076 times more than what Walmart’s median worker made. Workers got a raise, too: The median worker made nearly $22,000 last year, a 14.5% increase. That means the ratio between McMillon’s pay and the median Walmart worker was actually about 9% smaller than a year prior.

Disney Isn’t the Only Company Paying Its CEO 1,000 Times More Than Its Typical Employee Earns

Chief executives have long earned some of the largest paychecks in America, but at what point does their compensation defy reason? If you’re Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of the Disney company’s co-founder Roy Disney, the tipping point is about $66 million — or what Disney CEO Bob Iger earned last year.

In a series of tweets posted on April 21, Abigail Disney criticized the level of compensation Iger receives, stating that “by any objective measure a pay ratio over a thousand is insane.”

The $65.7 million Iger earned last year is indeed more than 1,000 times the median salary of all Disney employees, which is $46,127, according to a study from Equilar. Thanks to incentives associated with his contract extension, that imbalance amounted to a paycheck 1,424 times greater than his workers’ in 2018. (This year, his compensation is projected to be a more modest $35 million.)

These CEOs Make 1,000 Times More Than Their Employees

Income inequality is a growing problem in the United States. In cities across the country, the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. Perhaps nowhere is the problem more apparent than in the corporate world. In some of the largest and most recognizable global companies, chief executives earn in less than an hour… Continue reading These CEOs Make 1,000 Times More Than Their Employees

These CEOs Make 1,000 Times More Than Their Employees

Income inequality is a growing problem in the United States. In cities across the country, the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. Perhaps nowhere is the problem more apparent than in the corporate world. In some of the largest and most recognizable global companies, chief executives earn in less than an hour as much as their typical employee earns in an entire year.

MyLogIQ, a data aggregator of public companies, recently released a report comparing total CEO compensation to median employee compensation for companies on the S&P 500 index. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the report to identify the 13 companies where the CEO makes at least 1,000 times the salary of their typical employee.

These immense differences in compensation between CEOs and their typical employees in some cases are the product of extremely high CEO compensation – over $100 million in one case. More often, however, it is a combination of large CEO pay (the lowest is $8.8 million) and very low median employee annual pay, as many of these companies employ part-time or seasonal workers. Indeed, some of these companies rank among those that owe their employees a raise.

These CEOs Make 1,000 Times More Than Their Employees

The typical employee of The Gap, Inc., the company behind Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Gap clothing brands, earns just under $6,000 a year. Arthur Peck, the company’s CEO, earns as much in about a half hour. While most Gap employees are compensated primarily through wages and salaries, Peck is an exception. Only $1.5 million… Continue reading These CEOs Make 1,000 Times More Than Their Employees

From Coke to Macy’s, Pay for Typical Worker Takes Big Swings

As U.S. companies disclose what they pay typical workers, one thing is clear: A lot can change in a year.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. almost tripled what it paid its median employee last year. Median pay rose by nearly 60% at Macy’s Inc. and by almost a quarter at biotech Celgene Corp. It fell by two-thirds at Coca-Cola Co. and by more than a quarter at snack-maker Mondelez International Inc.

The reasons for these big swings from 2017 to 2018 varied widely, however. Some reflected dramatic shifts in the company’s workforce. Others came about thanks to new ways of identifying that middle employee. Still others reflect actual changes in what individual workers made.