Extraordinary corporate compensation deals for Elon Musk have opened the door for the CEOs of other S&P 500 companies to win huge paydays, a new study shows.

Even excluding the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab and ‌SpaceX (SPCX.O), opens new tab, average compensation for chief executives in the S&P 500 soared 21% to $22.8 million in 2025, according to data to be released later on Thursday by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. That is the highest amount since the top U.S. labor federation began tracking the figure in the 1990s. READ MORE