Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan introduced legislation this week to crack down on what they describe as runaway corporate greed and obscene disparities between executive and worker compensation. The Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act would impose tax penalties on corporations where executives earn more than 50 times the pay of their average employees.
The proposal comes as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, already the world’s richest person and a Republican megadonor, edges closer to becoming the first trillionaire under a pay package valued at $975 billion if approved by Tesla’s board. Sanders and Tlaib argue that such extreme payouts underscore the urgency of reform.
The legislation would raise corporate taxes in proportion to the gap between CEO and worker pay. Companies with pay ratios between 50-to-1 and 100-to-1 would face a 0.5 percentage point increase, with penalties rising for wider disparities. Firms where executives earn more than 500 times the median worker would pay the highest rate. The bill also directs the Treasury Department to address tax avoidance schemes, including those that mask pay gaps by outsourcing work to contractors.
Sanders called the scale of executive compensation intolerable in light of the struggles facing working families. “It is unacceptable that the CEOs of the largest low-wage corporations make more than 630 times what their average workers make,” he said. “This is not only morally obscene, but also insane economic policy. At a time of record-breaking income and wealth inequality, we must demand that the wealthiest people and most profitable corporations in America finally pay their fair share of taxes and treat all employees with the respect and dignity they deserve. That’s precisely what this legislation begins to do.”
The bill’s sponsors estimate it could raise $150 billion over the next decade if current compensation patterns hold. They pointed to calculations showing that the largest U.S. corporations would have paid billions more in taxes last year if the measure were already law. JPMorgan Chase would have paid $2.38 billion, Google $2.16 billion, and Walmart $929 million. Under Tlaib’s version of the bill, Tesla could owe as much as $100 billion in additional taxes over 10 years if Musk receives the proposed package.
With voter support cutting across party lines—62 percent of Republicans and 75 percent of Democrats favor limits on CEO pay relative to worker wages—Sanders and Tlaib argue that the proposal reflects broad public frustration. Still, with Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress and President Donald Trump in the White House, the legislation faces long odds.
The measure highlights the widening gulf between corporate executives and rank-and-file employees. At the 350 largest publicly owned U.S. firms, CEOs make 290 times more than the average worker. The gap is even more dramatic at certain companies: Walmart’s median employee earned $29,469 in 2024 while CEO Doug McMillon made $27.4 million, a 930-to-1 disparity. At Starbucks, the median worker would need more than 6,000 years to match the 2024 compensation of CEO Brian Niccol.
“Working people are sick and tired of corporate greed,” said Tlaib. “It’s disgraceful that corporations continue to rake in record profits by exploiting the labor of their workers. Every worker deserves a living wage and human dignity on the job.” She added, “It’s time to make the rich pay their fair share.”
The proposal also carries moral backing beyond the political sphere. In his first interview as head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo criticized excessive CEO pay and singled out Musk’s potential trillionaire status. “CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times more than what the workers are receiving… it’s [now] 600 times more than the average workers are receiving,” he told the Catholic outlet Crux. “Yesterday, the news that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world: What does that mean and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble.”
Sanders responded that the pope “is exactly right.” He added, “No society can survive when one man becomes a trillionaire while the vast majority struggle to just survive—trying to put food on the table, pay rent, and afford healthcare. We can and must do better.”
The bill is also part of Sanders’ broader “Fighting Oligarchy Tour,” which has taken him across the country to rally support against wealth inequality, political corruption, and unchecked corporate power. Both he and Tlaib say the legislation is about restoring dignity to work and ensuring corporations contribute fairly to the society that enables their profits.
“CEOs are now making 290 times more than their average worker,” Tlaib said in a separate statement. “It’s disgraceful that corporations continue to rake in record profits by exploiting the labor of their workers. Every worker deserves a living wage and human dignity on the job.”
Musk has not commented on the bill. But Sanders and Tlaib argue that the stakes could not be clearer. For them, the legislation is both a symbolic and practical step toward curbing corporate excess and redirecting wealth to address the needs of ordinary Americans.
COMMENTS