Pay Ratios: CEO and C-Suite Compensation in the Russell 3000 and S&P 500
The CEO is consistently the highest-paid executive in the C-Suite, but how does CEO compensation compare to that of other executives? This report examines the ratio of CEO total compensation to that of chief financial officers (CFOs), chief legal officers (CLOs), chief operating officers (COOs), chief human resource officers (CHROs), chief marketing officers (CMOs), and […]
Posted by Paul Hodgson, The Conference Board, Inc., on Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Editor's Note:
Paul Hodgson is a Senior Advisor at The Conference Board, Inc. This post is based on his Conference Board memorandum.
The CEO is consistently the highest-paid executive in the C-Suite, but how does CEO compensation compare to that of other executives? This report examines the ratio of CEO total compensation to that of chief financial officers (CFOs), chief legal officers (CLOs), chief operating officers (COOs), chief human resource officers (CHROs), chief marketing officers (CMOs), and named executive officers (NEOs) as a whole, across the S&P 500 and the Russell 3000.
Key Insights
- Between 2020 and 2024, the gap between total CEO compensation and non-CEO executives narrowed in the S&P but widened in the Russell 3000.
- There are substantial role variations by industry in the pay ratios of other executives to the CEO; for instance, for all NEOs in the Russell 3000, the differences are widest in materials, industrials, and utilities.
- In the Russell 3000, median total compensation for all NEOs does not exceed 50% of CEO median total compensation in any industry—although a small number of individual C-Suite positions in certain sectors do surpass this threshold.
- Gender pay gaps were smaller in the Russell 3000 but more pronounced in the S&P 500, with woman CMOs, in particular, earning significantly more than their men counterparts.
