A study analyzing compensation data from 1,500 companies in 33 countries found that the average chief executive earned approximately $8.4 million in 2025, with pay rising across industries and regions. The figures, reported by The Hill on July 15, 2025, underscore a pattern that compensation researchers have documented for years: executive pay grows faster than the organizations it is meant to reflect.
The breadth of the dataset is the story's most significant feature. By spanning three dozen countries, the analysis resists the usual counterargument that outsized pay is a quirk of American capital markets. It is not. The average held at $8.4 million across borders, across sectors, and across firm sizes within the sample.
The gap between executive and median worker pay has drawn sustained attention from labor economists, institutional investors, and policy researchers for more than a decade. Shareholder advisory firms have increasingly recommended “against” votes on executive pay packages at annual meetings. Boards have, for the most part, noted the recommendation and proceeded.
The study adds a fresh data point to a well-established body of evidence on the structure of corporate compensation worldwide.
I filed the story. The numbers are accurate. The study is real. I will have a follow-up if the numbers change. They will go up.