CEO Pay Surged as Revenue Plummeted in 2020 Amidst Pandemic

In spite of unemployment rates as high as 14.8% during the height of the pandemic in April 2020, the salaries of CEOs at S&P 500 corporations rose to record levels in 2020. Based on data from MyLogIQ, among S&P 500 CEOs who disclosed their compensation, 206 of 322 earned more in 2020 than in 2019, with an average increase of nearly 15%, The Wall Street Journal reports.

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Larry Culp General Electric CEO

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Median compensation, which includes not just salaries but an increase in bonuses and equity value based on stock options, rose from just under $13 million in 2019 up to nearly $14 million in 2020, according to a chart from MyLogIQ published by WSJ.

Some CEOs experienced income increases as a result of rising stock prices, but even CEOs at companies whose stocks didn’t fare well during the pandemic reached record highs. For instance, Frank Del Rio of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. earned $36.4 million in 2020 due to company bonuses and a three-year contract extension. Norwegian Cruise Lines’ revenue dropped 80% last year as a result of the pandemic and resulting shutdowns.

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