Leading a major retail company is no small job.
CEOs are responsible for balancing the demands of thousands of workers, customers, and suppliers.
Still, the high stakes are handsomely rewarded, often with eight-figure compensation packages comprising a base salary, company stock, and perks such as corporate jet use and personal security services. (Costco’s CEO also gets an Executive Membership to the warehouse club.)
To view that total compensation through another lens, Business Insider reviewed the annual executive pay in recently filed proxy statements from large retailers for 2025 and calculated how much each CEO earned each day of the past year.
By comparison, the median annual pay for retail salespersons in the US was $34,750 in 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In most cases, these leaders made as much or more in a single day as their average employees earned in an entire year. Some CEOs earned their median worker’s pay in a matter of hours. (One notable exception was Costco, due to the company having the highest median worker pay.)
Here’s what the CEOs of 25 large retail and restaurant companies made per day last year, in ascending order.
Todd Vasos of Dollar General: $22,365 per day
Courtesy of Dollar General
Shane O’Kelly of AutoZone: $24,992 per day
Jakub Porzycki/Reuters
Gerald Morgan of Texas Roadhouse: $29,650 per day
Terri Peters
Jack Sinclair of Sprouts Farmers Market: $31,554 per day
Sprouts Farmers Markets
William Stengel of Genuine Parts Company: $35,242 per day
Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Ron Vachris of Costco: $38,171 per day
Costco
Ronald Sargent of Kroger: $39,452 per day
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Michael Creedon of Dollar Tree: $40,480 per day
Dollar Tree
Lauren Hobart of Dick’s Sporting Goods: $41,380 per day
Ben Gabbe/Getty Images
Joshua Kobza of Restaurant Brands Inc.: $41,534 per day
RBI
Kecia Steelman of Ulta Beauty: $42,202 per day
Manoli Figetakis/Getty Images
Scott Boatwright of Chipotle: $42,356 per day
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Ted Decker of Home Depot: $44,359 per day
Courtesy of The Home Depot
Bob Eddy of BJ’s Wholesale Club: $45,693 per day
BJ’s Wholesale Club
Corie Barry of Best Buy: $47,524 per day
Best Buy
James Conroy of Ross Stores: $47,690 per day
Kevin Carter/Getty Images
Chris Turner and David Gibbs of Yum Brands: $49,054* per day
Yum Brands
Chris Kempczinski of McDonald’s: $56,369 per day
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Marvin Ellison of Lowe’s: $59,128 per day
Courtesy of Lowe’s
Brian Cornell of Target: $59,808
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
Ernie Herrman of TJX Companies: $72,886 per day
Getty
Doug McMillon of Walmart: $80,112 per day
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Brian Niccol of Starbucks: $84,912 per day
AP Photo/John Locher
Hal Lawton of Tractor Supply Co: $88,431 per day
Tractor Supply Co.
Laura Alber of Williams-Sonoma: $91,226
Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images