Robert Reich rarely fails to deliver worthwhile content. He notes that chief executives are paid, on average, about 280 times as much as typical workers. The Economic Policy Institute calculated the 2024 ratio at 281 to one.

But the disparity within individual corporations can be even more shocking.

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski received $20,574,525 in total compensation in 2025. McDonald’s reported that this was 1,082 times the compensation of its median employee, who received $19,020.

Many restaurant workers, however, are employed part time. Reliable statistics on their typical hours and annual earnings are difficult to obtain, but consider a worker averaging 20 hours a week at $14 an hour. That person would earn about $14,560 a year.

On that basis, Kempczinski received more than 1,400 times as much. A worker earning that amount would have to labour for more than fourteen centuries to equal what the McDonald’s CEO received in a single year.