An executive pay watch report released this week by the AFL-CIO documented significant disparities between chief executive compensation and worker earnings across major U.S. corporations. Tesla’s Elon Musk received $158.3 billion in compensation during 2025, representing a 2.5 million-to-1 ratio compared to the median Tesla worker’s pay. The report noted that Musk earned the equivalent of the median Tesla worker’s annual compensation every 4.23 seconds.
Across the top S&P 500 companies, the average CEO-to-worker pay ratio stood at 312-to-1 in 2025 when excluding Musk, up from 285-to-1 the previous year. When Musk’s compensation was included in the calculation, the average ratio increased to 5,387-to-1. Average CEO pay excluding Musk was $22.8 million in 2025, compared to $18.9 million in 2024, while the average including Musk reached $340.1 million. The report found that a majority of S&P 500 CEOs earned more in a single day than the median U.S. worker earned in an entire year.
The report also examined income trends for Donald Trump, whose earnings reached $2.2 billion in 2025, primarily from cryptocurrency holdings, representing a 254% increase from 2024. According to the calculations presented, a median U.S. worker would need 43,154 years to earn what Trump received in 2025. The AFL-CIO’s secretary-treasurer characterized the income concentration as “political grift” and criticized recent budget policies affecting worker protections and social programs.
The report included data on broader economic challenges facing American workers, noting that workers’ share of U.S. national income has fallen to the lowest level since the second world war. It documented that 33% of U.S. adults have no retirement savings, 37% lack sufficient funds for a $400 emergency expense, 26% have foregone medical care due to costs, and 23% of renters have fallen behind on payments. Tesla declined to provide immediate comment, while a White House spokesperson defended the president’s asset holdings and stated they are managed independently without conflicts of interest.
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