The 2026 proxy season has officially come to a close, as companies have finished filing their annual proxy statements (DEF 14A) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These disclosures provide a detailed view into executive compensation programs and workforce pay dynamics across the U.S.

This analysis examines fiscal year 2025 proxy statements filed by Equilar 500 companies—the largest U.S. public companies by revenue—to identify emerging trends in executive compensation. By tracking data from 2021 through 2025, the study provides a multi-year perspective on how CEO pay has evolved relative to median employee compensation and explores ongoing developments in gender pay equity among top executives.

Median total direct compensation for CEOs reached $16.9 million in 2025, representing a 4.3% increase from the previous year. Growth was observed across the compensation spectrum, with the 25th percentile rising 7% and the 75th percentile increasing 8.3% year-over-year. Looking at the broader trend, median CEO pay has climbed 16.6% since 2021, when it stood at $14.5 million.

As CEO compensation increased, so did the gap between executive and employee pay. Equilar 500 data shows that the median CEO pay ratio rose from 210:1 in 2024 to 219:1 in 2025, a 4.3% increase. Growth was also recorded at both the 25th and 75th percentiles, signaling a broad-based expansion in pay disparities across large public companies.

The rising pay ratio suggests that compensation growth for CEOs continues to outpace gains for the typical employee, further widening the divide between executive and workforce earnings.

While CEO pay ratios provide a useful benchmark, it is important to recognize the fundamental differences in how CEOs and employees are compensated. The largest portion of CEO pay typically consists of long-term equity awards, which are tied to future performance and often remain unrealized for years. In contrast, median employee compensation is primarily composed of fixed salary and annual cash incentives.

Since 2021, median employee compensation has increased 16.1%, growing from $68,586 to $79,648. In 2025 alone, median employee pay rose 5.6%, compared to a 4.3% increase in median CEO compensation. Despite employee compensation growing at a slightly faster rate than CEO pay over the most recent year, the median CEO pay ratio continued to rise. Because CEO compensation consists of multi-million dollar packages, even a smaller percentage increase yields an absolute dollar gain that easily outpaces the dollar growth of a median employee’s salary.

As companies continue to highlight leadership diversity and pay transparency, gender-based compensation trends remain an important area of focus. While compensation levels for both male and female CEOs fluctuated between 2021 and 2024, both groups reached their highest median compensation levels of the study period in 2025.

Notably, female CEOs once again earned higher median compensation than their male counterparts. Median pay for female CEOs reached $17.6 million, compared to $16.6 million for male CEOs. Although the prevalence of female CEOs remains significantly smaller than that of male CEOs within the Equilar 500, with 11% women and 89% men in 2025, the data reflects the continued presence of women among some of the highest-compensated leaders.

The 2026 proxy data highlights several notable developments in executive compensation, workforce pay and leadership demographics among the largest U.S. public companies. Yet despite these changing dynamics, a familiar pattern holds true—elevated CEO compensation continues to heavily outpace the pay of a typical employee.