• Home
  • News
  • Fortune 500
  • Tech
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
MPW

Female CEOs of the Largest Public Companies Are Actually Out-Earning the Men

By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 10, 2016, 10:13 AM ET
Profile Of PepsiCo Chairperson and CEO Indira Nooyi,
Photograph by Priyanka Parashar—Mint Hindustan Times via Getty Images

We so often read about men out-earning women that when the reverse happens—even on a minor scale—we can’t help but take notice.

According to executive compensation firm Equilar, female CEOs of the 100 largest public companies in the U.S. made significantly more than their male peers in 2015. The firm’s analysis of the so-called Equilar 100 (top 100 companies by revenue) finds that the female CEOs in this group earned an average $22.7 million last year, while the male chiefs took home an average $14.9 million.

Of course, it must be noted that the averages are affected by the small number of female CEOs in the analysis: just eight women out of 101 (Oracle has two CEOs). What’s more, one of the women in the Equilar 100, Oracle’s (ORCL) Safra Catz, tied with her co-CEO, Mark Hurd, for the title of highest paid chief executive, raking in $53.2 last year, significantly boosting the women’s average. A better representation of this reverse gender gap may be median earnings; female CEOs earned a median $20 million in 2015, compared to a median $14.5 million for the entire group.

Sign up: Click here to subscribe to the Broadsheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the world’s most powerful women.

Here’s the full list of female CEOs of top largest 100 public companies and their compensation packages. All of the women below also appear on Fortune‘s 2015 list of the 50 Most Powerful Women.

About the Author
By Valentina Zarya
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in MPW

Workplace CultureSports
Exclusive: Billionaire Michele Kang launches $25 million U.S. Soccer institute that promises to transform the future of women’s sports
By Emma HinchliffeDecember 2, 2025
20 hours ago
C-SuiteLeadership Next
Ulta Beauty CEO Kecia Steelman says she has the best job ever: ‘My job is to help make people feel really good about themselves’
By Fortune EditorsNovember 5, 2025
28 days ago
ConferencesMPW Summit
Executives at DoorDash, Airbnb, Sephora and ServiceNow agree: leaders need to be agile—and be a ‘swan’ on the pond
By Preston ForeOctober 21, 2025
1 month ago
Jessica Wu, co-founder and CEO of Sola, at Fortune MPW 2025
MPW
Experts say the high failure rate in AI adoption isn’t a bug, but a feature: ‘Has anybody ever started to ride a bike on the first try?’
By Dave SmithOctober 21, 2025
1 month ago
Jamie Dimon with his hand up at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit
SuccessProductivity
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says if you check your email in meetings, he’ll tell you to close it: ’it’s disrespectful’
By Preston ForeOctober 17, 2025
2 months ago
Pam Catlett
ConferencesMPW Summit
This exec says resisting FOMO is a major challenge in the AI age: ‘Stay focused on the human being’
By Preston ForeOctober 16, 2025
2 months ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
Ford workers told their CEO 'none of the young people want to work here.' So Jim Farley took a page out of the founder's playbook
By Sasha RogelbergNovember 28, 2025
5 days ago
placeholder alt text
North America
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos commit $102.5 million to organizations combating homelessness across the U.S.: ‘This is just the beginning’
By Sydney LakeDecember 2, 2025
23 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Warren Buffett used to give his family $10,000 each at Christmas—but when he saw how fast they were spending it, he started buying them shares instead
By Eleanor PringleDecember 2, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Elon Musk says he warned Trump against tariffs, which U.S. manufacturers blame for a turn to more offshoring and diminishing American factory jobs
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 2, 2025
22 hours ago
placeholder alt text
C-Suite
MacKenzie Scott's $19 billion donations have turned philanthropy on its head—why her style of giving actually works
By Sydney LakeDecember 2, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
North America
Anonymous $50 million donation helps cover the next 50 years of tuition for medical lab science students at University of Washington
By The Associated PressDecember 2, 2025
1 day ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.