Chief executive officers in the United States currently make roughly four hundred times more money than their average workers, representing a drastic and terrifying increase from the 1965 ratio of just twenty-one to one.

A closer look

Chief executive officers in the United States currently make roughly four hundred times more money than their average workers, representing a drastic and terrifying increase from the 1965 ratio of just twenty-one to one. This explosive growth in executive compensation has been driven by stock awards and highly insulated corporate boards that simply rubber-stamp massive payouts regardless of the company's actual performance. Meanwhile, average worker wages have largely stagnated when adjusted for inflation, forcing millions of employees to take on a second job just to afford basic rent. It is deeply inspiring to know that when a corporation completely fumbles its quarterly earnings and lays off ten thousand people, the guy responsible can still afford his third mega-yacht to cry on