CEOs got millions after boards ‘neutralized’ the impact of tariffs. Some won’t say what it was worth

Christopher Calio, CEO of RTX, collected $27.7 million in compensation last year. That was his total after the $241.5 billion aerospace and defense giant’s board decided the trade war wouldn’t touch his bonus. 

At its January 2025 board meeting, the compensation committee of RTX, formerly Raytheon, pre-authorized the removal of tariff impacts on business metrics related to Calio’s pay months before President Trump announced a set of sweeping Liberation Day tariffs on April 2, 2025 that upended global supply chains. The RTX comp committee said that the tariff-cost impact “should be neutralized” for determining annual bonus payouts because the tariffs were “externally imposed, unpredictable and unrelated to operational execution.” READ MORE

The Affordability Issue – An Employer View

Among the slew of data released last week was a Bureau of Labor Statistics update on the employment cost index. The data showed that for all civilian workers overall compensation costs rose 3.4 percent between the first quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. Similarly, wages and salaries rose at the same 3.4-percent rate, but benefit costs rose at a faster 3.6-percent pace. READ MORE

EU Pay Transparency Directive: The countdown is on

One of the most critical pieces of legislation related to equity in the workplace in decades is about to go into effect—and companies worldwide need to take note, experts say.

EU-operating organizations have until June 7 to comply with the provisions of the EU Pay Transparency Directive, a comprehensive approach to narrowing the pay gap between men and women in EU-operating organizations, which was adopted about three years ago. Organizations in EU member states will soon need to ensure they can demonstrate that they provide equal pay for equal work, and give applicants easy access to pay information or pay ranges and pay progression criteria, while complying with regular reporting requirements. READ MORE

Using global shocks as a laboratory to study executive pay

It is often claimed that executives reap rewards from favourable market tailwinds they did nothing to create. This column uses two decades of Danish data to argue that this ‘pay for luck’ critique requires more nuance. While CEOs do receive higher pay when global conditions are favourable, the authors find that boards reward the effort required to capitalise on those favourable conditions as well as to mitigate losses in the face of negative shocks. The findings suggest that globalisation doesn't just increase pay – it fundamentally changes why and how CEOs are compensated. READ MORE

The Corporate and Billionaire Opponents of San Francisco’s Overpaid Executive Tax

San Francisco voters will soon have a chance to weigh in on a proposed increase to the city’s Overpaid Executive Tax. This proposal would give large corporations with huge gaps between CEO and worker pay a choice between narrowing those gaps to reasonable levels or contributing a bit more to local public services at a time of severe budget shortfalls. Deep-pocketed donors are building a huge war chest to block the initiative. READ MORE

Tech’s Role in Strategic Compensation

Managing payroll is more complex than ever before. With constantly changing pay transparency laws and offices expanding around the globe, HR needs to ensure they are maintaining compliance and consistency in their practices. Today’s tech platforms are helping to ease this burden being felt by HR and comp teams.

“Technology is now central to modernizing compensation practices,” says Jack Jones, senior principal, compensation and total rewards for Mercer. “Not an add-on, but the backbone that enables faster, fairer, and more strategic paid decisions. It automates work routine, enables more sophisticated analysis, supports transparent communication, and helps ensure consistency and compliance.” READ MORE

Amazon analyst feels 'trapped' after tripled salary

A post by a 26‑year‑old Amazon analyst on professional networking platform Grapevine has triggered a wide discussion around career growth, burnout, and the invisible pressures that come with higher pay, after the employee said tripling their salary had made life feel “worse”, not better.

In the post, the analyst wrote that despite earning more than anticipated and switching jobs to accelerate growth, the demands of work and family responsibilities had left him feeling “completely trapped”. READ MORE

SpaceX ties Musk compensation to Mars colonisation goal

SpaceX’s board has approved a compensation plan for founder Elon Musk with goals as futuristic and celestial as the company’s ambitions: colonising Mars and running data centres in outer space.

The details of Mr Musk’s sweeping pay package, which have not been widely reported, were revealed in the company’s confidential registration statement filed in recent weeks with the Securities and Exchange Commission and reviewed by Reuters last week. READ MORE

Job Seeker Ends Interview After Recruiter Calls His Salary Expectations 'Cute'

Turning to Reddit to express his frustration, a job seeker shared that he abruptly ended his interview with a recruiter after he called the salary range he anticipated for the role "cute." Now he's worried that he may have made a mistake because of the current job market.

Every job seeker has expectations going into an interview, especially when it comes to salary. It's why the lack of transparency in job listings is so frustrating. No one wants to waste time refining their resume and researching a company if they're basically going to be laughed out of negotiations. Sadly, the state of the economy and limited job availability have him questioning whether he might've been "overreacting" to the recruiter's response. READ MORE

An Early Look at the Highest-Paid CEOs in 2025

CEO compensation is on a strong upward trajectory. The 2026 edition of the Equilar 100 study shows median CEO compensation reached $29.4 million in 2025, up 23.2% from the previous year. The surge in compensation is the sharpest rise since 2021, when boards rewarded their CEOs with lucrative pay packages for navigating the turbulence and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. READ MORE

GM CEO Mary Barra Tops Big Three Pay as Compensation Gap Widens

CEO compensation in American companies continues to climb relative to average worker pay, a trend seen as necessary for attracting top talent and aligning management incentives with shareholder value. According to a recent report, General Motors CEO Mary Barra has become the highest-paid chief executive among the Big Three automakers.

Barra received total compensation of $29.9 million last year, a modest 1.4% increase over the prior year, as disclosed in a company filing. The slight rise was driven by an 11% jump in stock awards to $21.6 million, which formed the bulk of her package, while nonequity incentive plan compensation fell 26% to roughly $5 million. Her base salary remained unchanged at $2.1 million for several years. READ MORE

The Location of Your First Job Could Matter More Than Your Salary

College students graduating this year may want to relocate to these cities to increase their chances of earning a good income and becoming homeowners.

A recent report from Glassdoor and Redfin ranks the top big, mid-sized, and small United States cities for recent college graduates. Washington, D.C., New Orleans and Springfield, Ill., ranked as the top cities in the respective categories. READ MORE

ChatGPT Tells Us What a 'Good Salary' Is at Age 30

Are millennials ahead or behind where they should be by now in life?

By age 30, many millennials have been working for a good decade and may have put in the time and effort to increase their job prospects and salary. Yet as the definition of the middle class changes and cost of living remains high, has a “good salary” changed for the 30-something crowd? With the last millennials hitting 30 and the first zoomers staring down that magic number, it's worth examining.

To find out, I did a deep dive with ChatGPT. Here’s what it said. READ MORE

‘Salaries Are for Suckers’

You’re Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. Congratulations. Thank you. What kind of taxes do you pay? What don’t you pay? How do you end up not paying income taxes when you’re Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk? What are you talking about? So first of all, let’s focus on Jeff Bezos because he’s much more of a classic case. He started his own business. He owns a dominant amount of the stock. And over the course of the years, he has taken a salary that is no higher than $82,000. It’s been over 20 years now. And that’s his salary, it’s always capped at $82,000. And you might say, well, why would it be? He started the company. He’s the man. Why isn’t he taking a huge salary to reflect all that he put into the company? And the reason is because salaries are for suckers. When people take a salary, they are subject to high income taxes and payroll taxes. And Jeff Bezos and a lot of our other multi-, centibillionaires have no interest in paying those taxes. So instead, they take their benefits through the growing value of their stock. And their stock has grown enormously. And that massive growth of stock happens entirely tax-free, with no time frame under our current system in which that stock will ever be subject to tax. And that is because we only impose a tax if the stock is sold. And Bezos never has to sell the stock because he can simply borrow against the stock and use that money to support his lifestyle and to pay any interest that’s due on the loan. READ MORE

Executives Are Deferring Unlimited Compensation Tax-Free, but HR Won’t Explain the Bankruptcy Risk

Most executives who get access to a nonqualified deferred compensation plan treat it like a bonus perk. They sign the enrollment form, pick a deferral percentage, and move on. That is a mistake that can cost tens of thousands of dollars in unnecessary taxes — or, in the worst case, everything.

An NQDC plan is one of the only legal mechanisms that lets a high-earning executive defer an essentially unlimited amount of compensation, compound it tax-deferred, and potentially distribute it in a lower tax bracket. The upside is real, and so is the risk hiding in the fine print. READ MORE