Sifter

Every year the folks at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies team up with their cohorts at United for a Fair Economy, also based in D.C., to produce Executive Excess, a report on how CEO salaries are increasingly out of step with the pay of the average worker. This year, the report includes a special section on war profiteering and the pay gap between GIs and civilian defense contractors.

Avg. annual CEO pay at top 367 U.S. corporations, 2004 $11.8 million

Ratio of CEO pay to avg. production worker, 2004 431 to 1

Ratio of CEO pay to avg. production worker, 1990 107 to 1

Hourly min. wage today, had it risen as fast as CEO salaries $23.03

No. of women among the 150 highest-paid CEOs since 1990 0

No. of non-white males among the above 1 (C. Wang, Computer Assoc.)

Avg. CEO pay increase in 2004 7%

Avg. CEO pay increase for top defense contractor CEOs in 2004 200%

Ratio of median pay for defense CEOs vs. military generals 23 to 1

Ratio of median pay for defense CEOs vs. Army Privates 160 to 1

Pay of David Brooks, CEO, bulletproof vest contractor, DHB $70 million

No. of DHB vests recalled as ineffective by USMC 5,277

Amt. Brooks charged DHB for a “foregone vacation” $87,500

Min. no. of U.S. troops retained past their original commitments 50,000

Pay of Halliburton CEO David Lesar in 2004 $11.4 million

Amt. govt. auditors suspect Halliburton overcharged in Iraq $1.4 billion

Percentage of U.S. contracts in Iraq granted to Halliburton 52