CEO Pay Surges 11% While Workers' Wages Stagnate at 0.5% in 2025: Report

According to a new study, global chief executives widened the gap with workers in 2025, with CEO compensation rising far faster than wage growth and leaving inflation-adjusted worker pay lower than it was in 2019. The same kind of top-heavy outcome shows up in the U.S. "K-shaped" split described in a K-shaped economy with wealth compounding at the top, where a tiny group holds an outsized share of assets. In the report, the International Trade Union Confederation and Oxfam detailed that CEOs at the largest companies saw an 11% real-terms pay increase last year, while the average worker's real wages rose 0.5%. The groups said that works out to CEO pay climbing 20 times faster than workers' pay in 2025. CEO Pay Soars While Workers Struggle The analysis looked at 1,500 top-paying corporations across 33 countries that disclosed CEO pay for 2025, and it put average CEO compensation at $8.4 million, up from $7.6 million a year earlier. It also estimated a typical worker would need 490 years to match that annual CEO package. In the U.S., the report said CEO pay grew 20.4 times faster than worker wages over the past year. For 384 S&P 500 CEOs with available data, pay jumped 25.6% between 2024 and 2025, while real average hourly earnings for private-sector workers increased 1.3% over the same period. The U.S. wealth backdrop helps explain why the wage-and-pay split can persist even when headline economic data looks strong. By 2024, the top 10% of U.S. households held 93% of stocks, up from 81% in 2013, giving higher-income families more leverage to benefit when equities surge. Read Also: From Steve Ballmer To Jamie Dimon, Meet The Billionaires Who Amassed Their Wealth Without Founding A Company The Oxfam and ITUC figures also pointed to how extreme the top end has become in corporate paychecks. It said at least four CEOs at major companies collected more than $100 million in pay and bonuses for 2025, led by Broadcom CEO Hock Tan at over $205 million, and the top 10 highest-paid CEOs together exceeded $1 billion. The same "winner's circle" dynamic shows up in household wealth concentration. Just 19 U.S. families control about 1.8% of total household wealth, while the bottom half of households collectively hold 2.5%. Is The K-Shaped Economy Sustainable Long-Term? That concentration can make growth more fragile because consumer spending depends more heavily on people with significant assets. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell raised that point at a December 2025 press conference, saying, "Most of the consumption does happen by people who have more means… So it’s a good question how sustainable that is," he noted. Oxfam's release also described weakness on the worker side over a longer stretch, saying global real wages have fallen 12% since 2019 even as CEO pay rose in real terms. According to Oxfamamerica, it framed that decline as equivalent to workers effectively providing 108 days of unpaid labor over 2019 to 2025, including 31 days last year alone. Public sentiment appears to be moving in the opposite direction of stock-market records and GDP growth. A Guardian poll cited in the U.S. context found nearly half of Americans say their financial security is getting worse. Some economists argue the "K-shaped" label misses a demographic driver of spending resilience. Market strategist Ed Yardeni has called the economy "gen-shaped," pointing to Baby Boomers' $84.5 trillion in wealth and saying, "Many of the low-income consumers who are struggling financially are in the Gen Z cohort, who are the children of the Baby Boomers and the Gen X cohort," as older generations provide support. How Wealth Concentration Affects Consumer Spending Spending patterns also look different by income tier: higher earners are still buying services, travel, and discretionary goods, while lower earners are shifting budgets toward essentials. Buy Now, Pay Later plans and rising credit card balances have increasingly become cash-flow tools rather than conveniences. That consumer strain has entered policy discussions as well. President Donald Trump has floated a 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could reduce borrowing costs for some households but may also lead lenders to tighten access for riskier borrowers. In the global report, Oxfam and the ITUC argued the gains at the top are reinforced by shareholder payouts, estimating nearly 1,000 identified billionaires received $79 billion in dividends in 2025, or about $2,500 per second. It highlighted dividend totals including $3.8 billion for Bernard Arnault of LVMH and $3.7 billion for Amancio Ortega of Inditex. Read Also: Here Are The 10 Wealthiest Cities In The World, 5 Of Them Are In The US