Tesla CEO Elon Musk earned over 2.5 million times the median worker pay in 2025
A new AFL-CIO report shows Elon Musk’s 2025 compensation was more than 2.5 million times the average Tesla employee’s earnings, highlighting a widening CEO-worker pay gap.
According to the AFL-CIO’s latest executive-pay watch, Elon Musk’s 2025 compensation package of $158.3 billion translated to more than 2.5 million times the median Tesla worker’s earnings, a stark outlier even as CEO-to-worker pay ratios continued to climb. When Musk’s figure is excluded, the average ratio for CEOs of the top S&P 500 companies was 312 to 1 in 2025, up from 285 to 1 in 2024, while including Musk pushed the average to 5,387 to 1.
The report highlighted that a majority of S&P 500 CEOs could earn in a single day what the median U.S. worker makes in an entire year. Average CEO compensation, not counting Musk, rose to $22.8 million, and the overall average jumped to $340.1 million when Tesla was factored in. The study also cited declining worker income share of national earnings and cited broader financial hardships affecting many Americans. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Why it matters
The story reveals extreme income inequality at top corporations, influencing debates on wage policy and corporate governance.
In this story
