Elon Musk's compensation at Tesla in 2025 was over 2.5 million times that of the company’s average worker, according to a new report from the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labour unions in the US. Musk's pay deal amounted to $158.3bn.
The report, released this week, highlights a growing disparity between the pay of top corporate executives and their workers. Excluding Musk, the average ratio of CEO to worker pay for the top S&P 500 companies was 312 to 1 in 2025, an increase from 285:1 in 2024. Including Musk, the average pay ratio for these companies was 5,387:1.
The AFL-CIO report also noted that average CEO pay, excluding Musk, was $22.8m in 2025, up from $18.9m in 2024. With Tesla included, this average rises to $340.1m. The report further states that workers' share of US national income has reached its lowest level since the second world war.
Separately, the report examined Donald Trump's income in 2025, which was $2.2bn, largely from crypto holdings, marking a nearly 254% increase from 2024. A White House spokesperson stated that all of the President’s assets are held in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions and that there are no conflicts of interest.