Companies are spending big on perks for their C-suite. According to The Wall Street Journal’s recent analysis of a trove of annual filings, 1,500 of the largest U.S. public firms spent a combined total of nearly $600 million on 15,000 extras for top executives.
Those costs break down to personal security (29.4%); relocation and expat support (22.1%); personal aircraft use (19.5%); financial planning and tax benefits (6%); ground transportation (4.2%); health and wellness (4.1%); memberships, travel, and lifestyle (2.1%); product, gifts, and discounts (0.3%); and other costs (12.4%).
The median cost of executive security has more than doubled since 2021 across the 500 largest public firms. The analysis shows that Meta spent $22.5 million to protect CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Blackstone paid $12.6 million on personal security for CEO Stephen Schwarzman, and Alphabet expended $8.8 million for CEO Sundar Pichai’s security detail.
Relocation and expat support made up the second-largest chunk of perk spending. Etsy CEO Kruti Patel Goyal went on an international assignment to the U.K. and traveled back to the U.S. last year, receiving $1.2 million in perks that covered residential costs, lease termination, her children’s tuition, tax prep, and other benefits.
Another extra is personal aircraft use, which 700 executives at nearly 400 companies enjoy and costs more than $160,000 on average. The execs with the fattest flight packages were Charlie Ergen of EchoStar at $3.4 million, John Tyson of Tyson Foods at $3.2 million, Patrick Dumont of Las Vegas Sands at $2.6 million, and Tim Cook of Apple at $790,000. Apple’s board mandates Cook to fly on private jets, citing “security and efficiency purposes.”
Other bonuses include everything from sporting event tickets to alcohol. For example, Chemed gave its CEO $121,502 in tickets for Cincinnati Bengals games and other sports events. And liquor firm Constellation Brands gave its CEO $20,000 worth of free alcohol. The company said that the perk was part of a wider free product program.
Meanwhile, 400 executives across companies had some or all private club fees paid for. Last year, the Texas Roadhouse CEO received $131,000 to cover initiation fees and membership fees for a country club in Louisville, Kentucky, where the company is based.
A July Guardian/Harris Poll shows 95% of Americans believe the U.S. is suffering from an affordability crisis, with 57% believing the overall economy is getting worse. Nearly 2 million Americans are also dealing with long-term unemployment, which accounted for 27.3% of total joblessness in June.
In June, the inflation rate dropped to 3.5%, from 4.2% in May. That remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. While federal data shows an average hourly wage gain of 3.5% compared with the same time last year, many Americans feel it’s not enough to keep up with how much inflation has increased over the same time span.
According to The Wall Street Journal, these executive perks are stacked on top of yearly salaries. Even as Americans grapple with the high cost of living and unemployment, the C-suite is enjoying a very different set of expenses.
