The ratio is CEO pay divided by median worker pay
A CEO pay ratio is the company’s disclosed CEO total compensation divided by median employee pay for the same fiscal year. It is a filing figure, not a verdict about whether the package was deserved.
Two widely cited market studies sit above any one filing. AFL-CIO’s 2026 Executive Paywatch reports a 312:1S&P 500 average for 2025, excluding Tesla (13 Aug 2026 press). The Economic Policy Institute’s 2024 realized CEO-to-worker ratio is 281:1. Those are sample averages. The company example below is the cited #1 on the live ranking.
FLEX LTD (FLEX): 3,431:1, with CEO pay of $44,391,138.
Source: FLEX LTD's SEC proxy filing dated 24 Jun 2026. Cited #1 on highest CEO pay ratio 2026.
How to read the number
A high ratio can reflect a large CEO grant, a lower-paid global workforce, or both. Compare peers and read the filing before treating the ratio as a verdict. The ranked table stays on highest CEO pay ratio 2026.
For the longer editorial treatment of what the ratio hides, see CEO pay ratios explained.
Frequently asked questions
What is a CEO pay ratio?
The CEO pay ratio is the company's disclosed CEO total compensation divided by median employee pay for the same fiscal year. A 200:1 ratio means the CEO's reported package was 200 times the typical worker's disclosed pay.
What do the 312:1 and 281:1 figures mean?
312:1 is AFL-CIO's 2026 Executive Paywatch S&P 500 average CEO-to-worker ratio for 2025, excluding Tesla (https://aflcio.org/paywatch). 281:1 is the Economic Policy Institute's 2024 realized CEO-to-worker ratio (https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay/). Those are market studies. The cited #1 is one company filing.
What company has the highest CEO pay ratio?
FLEX LTD (FLEX) is the cited #1 on /rankings/ceo-pay-ratio-2026, at 3,431:1, with CEO pay of $44,391,138 for fiscal 2026, per FLEX LTD's SEC proxy filing dated 24 Jun 2026.
Where does the FLEX example come from?
The 3,431:1 ratio and $44,391,138 CEO pay figure come from FLEX LTD's SEC proxy filing dated 24 Jun 2026, the same example served on /rankings/ceo-pay-ratio-2026.
Does this page replace the ranking?
No. This page answers what the ratio is. The ranked table stays at /rankings/ceo-pay-ratio-2026.