ABSTRACT

Although most CEOs cite the communitarian ideal that “we are all in this together” when speaking publically to their employees, when it comes to the rewards for everyone’s efforts, there are big differences in outcomes for different people in any organization. In 2013, the average CEO of an American company earned 354 times more than the average employee in the same firm. 1 And this is just the average. Some CEOs can make many more times the average wages of the employees they lead. For example, Ronald Johnson’s compensation was 1,795 times more than the average wages of JCPenneys associates at the underperforming department store chain. 2 Disparities such as these have fueled a debate about whether CEO compensation is fair because, as labor organizer Brandon Rees has noted, “[such disparities create] the perception that the CEO is creating all the value for an organization.” 3