CEO Compensation Ratios in Silicon Valley

High CEO pay ratios are paired with high median employee compensation

Susan Lonergan, September 7th, 2018

For the first time, we are able to report CEO pay ratios for the Lonergan SV150. Slightly over half (79) of the companies on the list have now reported their 2017 CEO compensation in comparison to their median employee compensation. Average CEO compensation for this group was $9.43 million, and the average of median employee compensation was $123K. Using these two numbers, the CEO pay ratio for the Lonergan SV150 comes in at 77:1.

By comparison, the AFL-CIO reports that the equivalently computed CEO pay ratio in the S&P 500 is a much higher 361:1. This reflects higher average CEO compensation of $13.94 million and a MUCH LOWER average of median employee compensation of $38.6K.

Given the S&P 500 is made up of large companies only, a more valid comparison set is the largest 50 companies in the Lonergan SV150. In this group, 28 companies have reported their CEO pay ratios. The average CEO compensation in this group was $11.73 million; the average of median employee compensation was $127K. Using these two numbers, the CEO pay ratio for this group of companies come in at 92:1, which is still much lower than the S&P 500 ratio.