Live Nation Entertainment Inc. reported the highest CEO-to-median employee pay ratio and among S&P 500 companies that disclosed such information for 2022, according to an analysis of the most recent data by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The CEO-to-median employee pay ratio at Live Nation stood at 5,414-to-1 in 2022, with the median employee's annual compensation at $25,673. However, Live Nation noted its proxy statement that the large ratio was the result of one-time extra compensation related to the renewal of CEO Michael Rapino's 5-year employment contract. Excluding those costs of about $109 million and comparing that smaller figure to the median compensation of about $85,000 for Live Nation's US-based, full-time and salaried workers, the company's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio would be 353-to-1, according to the filing.
The median CEO-to-employee compensation ratio across the S&P 500 was 187-to-1, according to Market Intelligence data.
Kinder Morgan Inc. was one of the companies that reported the lowest ratio of 0-to-1. Former CEO Steven Kean, who stepped down from the role on Aug. 1, 2023, was paid just $1 in base salary during 2022, received no cash bonus and saw the value of his pension rise by $1,461 during the year, according to the company's proxy statement. Kinder Morgan's median employee salary during the year was $111,888.
Kean's $1 annual salary has held steady since at least 2020, while he received just over $18 million in stock awards in 2021, according to a filing.
VICI Properties Inc. recorded the highest median employee compensation in 2022 at $414,015. The company reported paying CEO Edward Pitoniak just over $11.5 million in total compensation during 2022, which resulted in a CEO-to-median employee pay ratio of 28-to-1, according to a filing.
Aptiv PLC reported the lowest median employee compensation in 2022 at $8,139. Company Chairman and CEO Kevin P. Clark received more than $16.2 million in total compensation for the year, resulting in a ratio of 1,991-to-1. In its proxy filing, Aptiv reported its median employee in 2022 worked in Mexico, which accounts for the largest share of the company's North American workforce.
"Market levels of pay and wage rates are generally lower in countries in which Aptiv has manufacturing facilities, in line with our regional service model that enables us to efficiently and effectively serve our global customers from best-cost countries," the company said in the filing.
Pay ratios at largest companies
Among the 20 largest S&P 500 companies by market capitalization, Apple Inc. reported the highest CEO-to-median employee pay ratio, with CEO Tim Cook's $99.4 million in total compensation 1,177 times higher than the median employee compensation of $84,493. Apple's latest pay ratio narrowed from 1,447-to-1 reported in 2021, as the median employee compensation in 2022 rose from $68,254 in 2021.
On the low end, Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk did not draw any compensation from the electric vehicle company in 2022, according to a filing. This resulted in a pay ratio of 0-to-1 compared to the median employee compensation of $34,084. The ratio is flat from 2021.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported the next lowest ratio, with Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett's $401,589 in total compensation more than six times higher than the $62,691 median employee pay. Berkshire's reported pay ratio is also essentially flat from the prior year.