Average CEO Pay Reaches Record High

The median pay package for a CEO in the U.S. rose above $10 million for the first time last year, with a typical chief executive taking in a record $10.5 million on average, up 8.8 percent from 2012, an Associated Press/Equilar study found. In the four years since the end of the financial crisis, the median CEO pay package has increased by 50 percent, and chief executives are now reported to take home about 257 times the average worker’s salary, up from 181 times more in 2009. Over the last few years, boards have tied CEO salary more closely to company stock prices, and the stock market’s rebound has led to surging executive paychecks.