More than half of 100 companies with the lowest median employee wages in the S&P 500 Index boosted CEO pay by changing the rules for assessing executive performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report by a left-leaning policy group published on Tuesday.

The report from the Institute for Policy Studies found that 51 of these 100 companies, including beverage and snack maker Coca-Cola Co, cruise ship operator Carnival Corp and fast food corporation Yum Brands Inc, reduced median worker pay by 2% to $28,187 on average in 2020 compared to 2019, even as the median compensation for their CEOs rose 29% to $15.3 million. READ MORE