Equilar | Associated Press CEO Pay Study

Pay for S&P 500 CEOs Increased at the Slowest Rate Since 2015

May 31, 2023

Amit Batish

The corporate world is synonymous with extraordinary talent, visionary leadership, and innovative products and solutions. The chief executive officers (CEOs) who navigate their organizations towards unparalleled growth are often the topic of public conversation, particularly when it comes to their compensation. Leading a global giant is no easy task, and CEOs are regularly the beneficiaries of handsome pay packages for their work. Several factors come into play when analyzing CEO compensation, including economic conditions and financial performance, and 2022 was no different.

For 13 years, Equilar has partnered with the Associated Press on annual CEO pay studies. The most recent edition identified trends in compensation awards for CEOs who served in that role at an S&P 500 company for at least two years as of fiscal year end 2022. Companies must have filed a proxy between January 1 and May 1, 2023 to be included in this study.

CEO Pay Increased Incrementally in 2022

While the markets closed at record levels in 2021, such was not the case in 2022. The year began strong, but supply chain issues and inflation dominated through most of 2022 and posed many challenges to companies. The impacts of the economy were indeed reflected in CEO pay. The median total compensation* for S&P 500 CEOs was $14.8 million in 2022—an increase of just 0.9% from the prior year. This marks the smallest year-over-year increase for S&P 500 CEOs since 2015, when pay saw a slight uptick of 0.8%, and a far cry from last year’s study when pay saw a record increase. The largest decline across all pay components was seen in annual bonuses, which dropped in value by 15.5% from $2.7 million in 2021 to $2.3 million in 2022—companies were less willing to pay a premium cash bonus as returns in the market were bleak.

As part of new SEC Pay Versus Performance (PvP) rules, 2023 is the first year that companies are required to disclose both tabular and narrative information reflecting the relationship between compensation actually paid (CAP) to a company’s named executive officers (NEOs) and the company’s financial performance. The goal of the new CAP value is to capture the change in value of previously granted awards. According to the study, the median CAP value for 2022 was $10.5 million for S&P 500 CEOs**—which is significantly less than the median 2021 CAP value of $26.8 million for the same group of executives.

Nevertheless, the highest-paid CEO in 2022 was Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, who was awarded a total pay package of nearly $226 million. Pichai was one of two CEOs to earn a nine-figure pay package—Michael Rapino of Live Nation Entertainment received the other at approximately $139 million. The top 10 highest-paid CEOs from 2022 are featured below.

Company Name	Executive	2022 Total Compensation	2022 CAP
Alphabet Inc.	Sundar Pichai	$225,985,145	$115,820,786
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.	Michael Rapino	$139,005,565	$35,618,299
Apple Inc.	Timothy D. Cook	$99,420,097	N/A
Broadcom Inc.	Hock E. Tan	$60,606,971	N/A
Ingersoll Rand Inc.	Vicente Reynal	$54,505,957	$51,229,750
Netflix, Inc.	Reed Hastings	$51,073,237	$51,073,237
Netflix, Inc.	Theodore A. Sarandos	$50,299,296	$50,299,296
Prologis, Inc.	Hamid R. Moghadam	$48,152,756	-$8,171,362
American Express Company	Stephen J. Squeri	$48,026,238	$42,946,184
Morgan Stanley	James P. Gorman	$39,398,905	$31,379,534

Median Employees Saw a Larger Increase in Pay Than CEOs

In 2022, the median S&P 500 employee earned $77,178, up 1.3% from $76,160 the previous year. While the pay increase is minimal, this—in combination with the even smaller increase in CEO pay—drove the CEO Pay Ratio down to 186:1 in 2022, a 2.1% decrease from 190:1 in 2021. While the debate around the CEO Pay Ratio continues to draw the ire of the public, the decreased value of the ratio may be a welcoming sign to advocates against large executive pay packages.

Women Are Underrepresented and Outearned

With 343 executives in this year’s study, just 20 are women. However, this is two more than last year’s study and four more than from the study two years ago. Over the last several years, despite being underrepresented, women outearned men. In 2022, the trend shifted as male CEOs were awarded $14.8 million at the median—1% more than women, whose median pay was $14.7 million. This marked the first time since 2015 that male S&P 500 CEOs outearned their female counterparts. The highest-paid woman on this year’s list was Lisa T. Su of Advanced Micro Devices with a pay package totaling $30.2 million in 2022. This marks the fourth consecutive year that Su is the highest-paid woman in the study. The full list of women CEOs can be found in the table below.

Company Name	Executive	2022 Total Compensation	2022 CAP
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.	Lisa T. Su	$30,219,921	-$160,142,075
General Motors Company	Mary T. Barra	$28,979,570	-$16,991,516
Nasdaq, Inc.	Adena T. Friedman	$28,045,305	$25,888,844
General Dynamics Corporation	Phebe N. Novakovic	$21,478,167	$48,677,670
Duke Energy Corporation	Lynn J. Good	$21,008,835	$24,000,880
Elevance Health, Inc.	Gail Koziara Boudreaux	$20,931,081	$35,256,056
Northrop Grumman Corporation	Kathy J. Warden	$20,672,072	$54,746,734
United Parcel Service, Inc.	Carol B. Tomé	$18,965,201	$13,072,062
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated	Reshma Kewalramani	$15,864,497	$29,529,089
Occidental Petroleum Corporation	Vicki A. Hollub	$14,872,965	$59,216,041
Otis Worldwide Corporation	Judith Fran Marks	$14,477,875	$15,281,897
Ventas, Inc.	Debra A. Cafaro	$14,059,092	$17,813,641
Zoetis Inc.	Kristin C. Peck	$14,003,540	-$15,709,790
The Hershey Company	Michele G. Buck	$13,550,049	$26,043,523
The Progressive Corporation	Susan Patricia Griffith	$12,748,826	$48,474,661
Ross Stores, Inc.	Barbara Rentler	$11,335,069	$11,165,315
CDW Corporation	Christine A. Leahy	$11,115,822	$8,181,554
Celanese Corporation	Lori J. Ryerkerk	$10,967,783	-$8,923,734
Arista Networks, Inc.	Jayshree V. Ullal	$10,735,887	$3,171,085
Regency Centers Corporation	Lisa Palmer	$8,649,788	$6,276,760

Communication Services Once Again Tops All Industries

For the fourth consecutive year, communication services saw the highest median total compensation across all industries at $28.1 million in 2022. Consumer cyclical was second on the list at $16.2 million, followed by technology at $16.2 million. Meanwhile, S&P 500 CEOs in the utilities industry saw the lowest median total compensation at $11.3 million. The financial services featured the most CEOs on the list with 55.

Industry	Number of CEOs	Median Total Compensation
Communication Services	16	$28,085,233
Consumer Cyclical	34	$16,222,348
Technology	47	$16,169,469
Financial Services	55	$16,086,469
Energy	18	$15,902,673
Healthcare	45	$15,864,497
Consumer Defensive	18	$14,986,323
Industrials	49	$13,119,641
Real Estate	28	$13,010,047
Basic Materials	17	$12,749,910
Utilities	16	$11,305,819

CEOs in the Hoosier State Boast the Largest Pay Packages

For the last several years, New York had been home to the largest S&P 500 CEO pay packages. In 2022, Indiana took the title and topped the list of states with at least five CEOs, boasting a median pay package of $20.9 million. Virginia was second on the list, as CEOs in the state were awarded $20.7 million at the median. New York fell to third on the list with median CEO total compensation at $19 million.

Once again, California had the highest prevalence of CEOs among all states in 2022 at 47, followed by New York 34. Texas (33), Illinois (27) and Pennsylvania (18) round out the top five.

*Total compensation includes information disclosed in company proxy statements including salary, bonus, stock and options valued at grant date, any deferred compensation, and other compensation (including benefits and perks).

**CAP figures are inclusive of only those companies with fiscal years ending on or after December 16, 2022.

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