Americans and CEO Pay: 2016 Public Perception Survey on CEO Compensation
The Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University recently conducted a nationwide survey of 1,202 individuals — representative by gender, race, age, political affiliation, household income, and state residence — to understand public perception of CEO pay levels among the 500 largest publicly traded corporations.
“74 percent of Americans believe that CEOs are not paid the correct amount relative to the average worker,” the survey found. “Only 16 percent believe that they are. While responses vary across demographic groups (e.g., political affiliation and household income), overall sentiment regarding CEO pay remains highly negative.
Key takeaways are:
- CEOs are vastly overpaid, according to most Americans
- Most support drastic reductions
- The public is divided on government intervention