Believe it or not, the average CEO makes 364 times as much as the average employee and this is a significant improvement over recent years. The average CEO earns nearly $11 Million annually. But the amazing statistic is the disparity of pay when comparing that of Private Equity and Hedge Fund managers to nearly anyone else. These executives earn an astonishing average annual pay package in excess of $650 Million, that’s more than a half BILLION per year! That equals more than 60,000 times the average worker pay and 61 times the average CEO pay.

But the party may be coming to an end for highly compensated fund managers as Congress works to change the tax code to increase the level of taxation on that income. Currently many Hedge Fund managers take their compensation in such a way that it is only taxed at the prevailing capital gains tax rate of 15%. But even if they were being taxed based on the earned income tax tables, it is an absolutely staggering sum. For example, the Mega Millions jackpot for this Friday is $325 Million. But to make the example more realistic we must use the lump sum payout amount of $191.1 Million. The odds of winning nearly $200 Million is 1 in 170 Million, but these managers are taking that home every four months or so. It’s like winning the lottery every day!

[tags]lottery, lotto, ceo, pay, hedge fund, compensation, capital gains, tax rate, taxes, odds, disparity, private equity, shaun carter[/tags]