Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Friends and family advocate for Brittney Griner’s release, the Bidens visit Uvalde, Texas, and female CEOs rank among the ‘undervalued’ chiefs on the Fortune 500. Have a great Tuesday.
– Maximum wage. A new Fortune franchise debuted just before the holiday weekend: Maximum Wage, or the most overpaid CEOs on the Fortune 500. Fortune senior writer Maria Aspan and list editor Scott DeCarlo crunched the numbers to figure out which chief executives’ compensation packages are out of whack with value delivered to shareholders.
Their rankings “analyzed the compensation and stock performance of the 280 Fortune 500 CEOs who have been in their jobs for at least three years.” They scored and ranked each CEO based on four factors: “total three-year CEO compensation; three-year share performance relative to that of their industry peers; annualized share performance over the CEO’s total tenure; and how that performance compared to the S&P 500 over the same period.”
Unsurprisingly, given their meager 8.8% representation among Fortune 500 chiefs as a whole, female CEOs did not rank among the 10 most overpaid. (Some came close, including Kohl’s CEO Michelle Gass, GM CEO Mary Barra, and Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub, who all declined or didn’t respond to requests for comment.)
These rankings, however, didn’t just reveal who is the most overpaid, justifiably an issue of rising concern amid soaring executive compensation, record inflation, and widening income inequality. In 2021, Fortune 500 CEOs earned 205 times what their typical employee did. But the methodology also revealed who is undervalued, at least by Fortune 500 CEO standards.
CDW CEO Christine A. Leahy and AMD CEO Lisa Su are among the most “undervalued” CEOs on the Fortune 500. That doesn’t mean their compensation is low—Su, for example, earned an average of $110 million over the past three years. But she earned AMD shareholders a 48% annualized return during her tenure as chief executive. Scoring that performance, compared to the market returns of AMD’s industry competitors and the S&P 500, supports the argument that despite Su’s inarguably high compensation, she’s actually earned even higher value for investors.
For a full understanding of these rankings, read Maria and Scott’s analysis here. And see the 10 most overpaid Fortune 500 CEOs here and the 10 most undervalued Fortune 500 CEOs here.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe
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Bridging the Pay Equity Gap: Virtual Conversation, June 9 Join Fortune to learn how to bridge the opportunity gap, eliminate pay disparities, and help employee retention. With speakers from L’Oreal and Credit Karma, panelists will explore topics relating to rising inflation and compensation, pay transparency, the flexible workplace, and more. Register here for free. |
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- Oil update. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced that European leaders reached an agreement "in principle" to ban 90% of Russian oil imports by the end of the year. The agreement is the bloc's sixth sanctions package against Russia. Reuters
- Get loud. Friends and family close to WNBA star Brittney Griner initially resisted a loud campaign to free her from Russian detention, worrying national attention in the U.S. would turn her detention from an alleged drug-related case to a political hostage situation. Now, more than three months later, WNBA players and others are organizing to push for action, including placing more pressure on the Biden administration. New York Times
- Paying respects. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden traveled to Uvalde, Texas on Sunday to visit a memorial to the 19 children and two teachers killed in the elementary school shooting. The president and first lady also visited with the family members of those killed in the massacre. ABC News
- Next gen. One leading voice in the crypto and NFT space is Nicole Buffett, the granddaughter of Warren Buffett. Fortune's Taylor Locke profiles the younger Buffett and her work as an artist making and selling non-fungible tokens. Fortune
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Blackstone's Approach Blackstone is investing in the companies and visionary leaders shaping the future. This means backing businesses like Bumble that are transforming how we use technology to connect. Learn More
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- Streaming drama. In a new interview with Maureen Dowd, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos discusses everything from executives below him on the org chart like Cindy Holland and Bela Bajaria, to the controversy over anti-trans comments in comedy specials by Dave Chappelle, to the decision to drop an animated series by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. New York Times
- Sizing shift. Old Navy will scale back its inclusive sizing strategy, Gap Inc. CEO Sonia Syngal announced last week. Stores will no longer carry all sizes, a strategy that was part of a shift meant to better serve customers but that left stores with imbalanced inventory. Wall Street Journal
- Attorneys and enforcement. Enforcement of state anti-abortion legislation will depend on prosecutors throughout the legal system. In an op-ed, one such prosecutor writes that he will not enforce those bans. Commonwealth’s attorney for Fairfax County, Va. Steve Descano says he has "committed to never prosecute a woman for making her own health care decisions." New York Times
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Did the Great Resignation save your life? The Cut
How Taylor Lorenz became part of the story The Information
Why is Planned Parenthood halting abortions before bans go into effect? Slate
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