Elon Musk received more than 2.5 million times the compensation of Tesla’s average worker in 2025, according to a report examining widening pay gaps at major US companies.
The Guardian reported that Musk’s Tesla compensation package was valued at $158.3 billion, making him a significant outlier in the AFL-CIO’s annual Executive Paywatch report.
“In 2025, Elon Musk received the median Tesla worker’s pay every 4.23 seconds – less time than it takes to read this sentence,” the report said.
Excluding Musk, chief executives at leading S&P 500 companies earned an average of 312 times their workers’ pay in 2025, up from 285 times in 2024.
Average CEO compensation excluding Musk increased from $18.9 million in 2024 to $22.8 million last year. Including Tesla, the average reached $340.1 million.
The report also found that “a majority of S&P 500 CEOs made more in one day than the median US worker made in one year.”
It highlighted broader financial pressures facing Americans, reporting that 33 per cent of US adults have no retirement savings and 37 per cent cannot cover a $400 emergency expense.
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