TIME Business

8 Female CEOs Out-Earn 93 Male CEOs

Oracle OpenWorld Conference
Tony Avelar—Bloomberg/Getty Images Safra Catz speaks at the Oracle OpenWorld Conference in San Francisco, on Sept. 19, 2010.

Kirsten Salyer is a writer and the former Deputy Editor of TIME Ideas

Hold the applause

Fortune has a piece out today showing that “Female CEOs of the Largest Public Companies Are Actually Out-Earning the Men.”

According to Equilar, an executive compensation firm, female CEOs of the top 100 companies by revenue in the U.S. made an average of $22.7 million in 2015, compared to male CEOs, who earned an average of $14.9 million.

A reverse pay gap at the top is certainly something worth noting. But a closer look at the data also highlights how far women have to go to hold those top executive positions.

The average is based on eight women. Eight. That’s compared to 93 male CEOs. (Oracle CEO Safra Catz is tied with her co-CEO Mark Hurd as the highest-paid CEO, making $53.2 million last year.)

As Fortune points out, when you compare the median earnings, the women still come out on top. Female CEOs made a median of $20 million in 2015, compared to $14.5 million for the whole group.

But we’re still talking about just eight women.

Tap to read full story

TIME Ideas hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.

Your browser is out of date. Please update your browser at http://update.microsoft.com


YOU BROKE TIME.COM!

Dear TIME Reader,

As a regular visitor to TIME.com, we are sure you enjoy all the great journalism created by our editors and reporters. Great journalism has great value, and it costs money to make it. One of the main ways we cover our costs is through advertising.

The use of software that blocks ads limits our ability to provide you with the journalism you enjoy. Consider turning your Ad Blocker off so that we can continue to provide the world class journalism you have become accustomed to.

The TIME Team