Pope Sounds Alarm on $1T Pay Gap and Billionaire Wealth Surge

Pope Leo XIV has raised urgent concerns about the global economic consequences of a widening wealth gap between corporate leaders and average workers, particularly highlighting Elon Musk’s potential to become the world’s first trillionaire. In a formal interview with Catholic news outlet Crux, the Pope expressed alarm over the increasing disparity in income between executives and employees, which he described as a “huge trouble” for society. The pontiff cited statistics showing that in 2024, the average CEO-to-worker pay ratio among the 100 S&P 500 corporations with the lowest median worker pay was 632 to 1, with CEO compensation averaging $17.2 million compared to $35,570 for median workers.

The Pope’s remarks come amid a broader trend of rising billionaire wealth, which increased three times faster in 2024 than in 2023, according to Oxfam. At the same time, many signatories of The Giving Pledge, an initiative co-founded by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda French Gates, remain behind on their commitments to donate at least half of their wealth to philanthropy. Of the $206 billion estimated to have been donated by the original signatories, 80% has been funneled into private foundations, raising questions about the tangible impact of the initiative.

Pope Leo XIV’s concerns are underscored by Tesla’s recent proposal to offer Elon Musk a $1 trillion pay package, contingent on the company achieving a market cap of $8.5 trillion and reaching ambitious production targets for electric vehicles, robotaxis, and humanoid robots. This potential compensation, disclosed in a regulatory filing, would represent one of the largest executive pay packages in corporate history. The board has justified the proposal by emphasizing Musk’s role as a visionary leader essential to Tesla’s long-term success. However, critics argue that the package reflects an overreliance on Musk’s ability to inspire investor confidence rather than his track record of delivering on ambitious timelines.

The CEO-worker pay gap has become a focal point in the debate over corporate governance and economic inequality. According to the Institute for Policy Studies’ 2025 Executive Excess report, the pay gap for the 100 lowest-paying S&P 500 companies has widened significantly since 2019, with CEO compensation increasing by 34.7% while median worker pay grew by only 16.3%. The report also notes that 22 of these companies saw their median worker pay actually decline over the same period. In stark contrast, corporations spent $644 billion on stock buybacks from 2019 to 2024, with some firms allocating more funds to shareholder returns than to capital investments.

The situation reflects a broader shift in corporate priorities. From 1965 to 2023, CEO compensation grew from 21 times the average worker’s pay to 290 times, while worker pay stagnated. This trend, the report argues, is fueled by external hiring of executives, contingent fees in executive search, and the visibility of CEO pay disclosures. The resulting upward spiral in compensation has contributed to economic inequality and reduced long-term corporate value growth.

In response, the report and other experts recommend a multi-pronged approach to address the imbalance, including restructuring executive compensation, promoting internal leadership development, fostering a collaborative corporate culture, and committing to reskilling workers. By shifting focus from individual incentives to collective growth, corporations can better align leadership with long-term value creation while ensuring fair compensation and investment in the workforce.