For nearly two years, worker pay in the United States has fallen short of crushing raises in the cost of living. But a handful of the highest-paid CEOs have comfortably stayed ahead of inflation.

Average pay for top CEOs in 2022 climbed to 7.7%, according to a report from Equilar, an executive compensation research firm. That raise comfortably beat out inflation, which was 6.4% in December 2022.

The median corporate leader on Equilar´s list of 100 best-paid CEOs made a record $22.3 million in 2022, including salaries, stock awards and cash bonuses.

The report focused on public companies with over $1 billion in revenue who had reported executive pay as of March 31.

“CEO compensation continues to rise at a higher rate than median employee,” Equilar said, also noting that the typical CEO on the top 100 list makes 288 as much as a typical worker.

The growing gap continues to draw the ire from the average employee, the report noted.

While CEO’ 7.7% pay increase last year topped the rank-and-file, most of whom received 5% raises at best, it’s a sharp fall from 2021, when executive leaders’ compensation swelled 31%, boosted by post-pandemic bonuses and stock awards. Still, the increase is notable considering how poorly most companies fared in the markets last year. The S&P 500 index lost 18% in 2022, while Equilar’s list had a median investment return of -11.1%.

The situation of the best-paid CEOs stands in stark contrast to the picture of millions of American families with meager financial inflows.

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