Executive pay climbed again in 2025—and the CEO-to-worker gap kept widening

Elon Musk received a $158.4 billion Tesla stock award in 2025, making him the highest-paid public company executive. Median CEO total compensation rose 13% to $4.75 million, while the CEO-to-worker pay ratio reached 99-to-1, up from 92-to-1 in 2024. Technology and real estate sectors dominated high CEO pay, with Tesla reporting the highest pay ratio at 2,522,203-to-1.