CEOs at the top 299 U.S. companies made a combined $3.4 billion in compensation in 2010. This is a 23% increase from the previous year.
JP Morgan Chase & Co.’s CEO Jamie Dimon’s total compensation rose from $1.3 million in 2009 to $20.8 million in 2010, which is a 1,500 percent increase. Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., saw his salary rise by $13 million last year.
Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit was paid $1 in 2010, after deciding he wouldn’t make anything over a dollar until Citigroup was profitable again. He made $1.75 million in 2011.
Morgan Stanley’s CEO, James Gorman, made $15.2 million in 2010 as compared to $6.5 million in 2009.
According to the report by AFL-CIO, the federation of labor organizations, the average pay of the 299 CEOs would cover the salaries of more than 700 minimum-wage workers.
“I have mixed feelings about it. I don’t like there’s such a large gap in wealth, but if those guys work really hard, and as long as they’re not over-paying themselves just because they have control, then I don’t see a problem. If you’re at that kind of a level, then you deserve to be compensated for your work,” said sophomore letters and sciences major Brandon Zarco.
All CEO salaries are part of the union federation’s annual Executive PayWatch, which is a searchable database that contains publicly available payment information from S&P 500 Companies.