The CEO of Kroger, Walmart, Target, or any other grocery store chain probably never has to think about the price of eggs, milk, or even caviar.
In fact, even when you look at the lowest-paid big grocery chain CEO, Publix’s Kevin Murphy, he’s probably not spending a lot of time at the butcher counter deciding whether to buy ground beef instead of steak.
“CEOs of major U.S. companies were paid 21 times as much as the typical worker in 1965, using the realized measure of CEO compensation, which captures what CEOs took home in pay after any stock-based compensation were sold,” according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
The numbers have climbed significantly in recent years.
“This ratio grew to 31-to-1 in 1978 and 60-to-1 by 1989. It surged in the 1990s, hitting 380-to-1 in 2000, at the end of the 1990s recovery and at the height of the stock market bubble,” the EPI showed.
Grocery chain CEOs have certainly benefited from rising salaries, which stands out at a time when many Americans have struggled with inflation. Grocery prices have climbed 32% since 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The pay range is very significant, however, as the top-paid CEO made more than $29 million in 2025, while the tenth-highest-paid grocery chain CEO “only” took home $4 million for the year.
Americans are worried about grocery prices
Half of Americans are struggling to afford food, and food anxiety is a reality for the majority of people, according to LendingTree research.
“Six in 10 people have worried about paying for groceries in the past month,” the online survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers ages 18 to 80 showed. Others key findings included:
- Americans are struggling to pay for groceries as prices rise. More than half (52%) say they’re spending more on food than they were last year, and 49% say it’s at least somewhat difficult to afford food right now.
- Nearly 90% have changed how they shop for groceries to offset higher food prices. Common strategies include paying closer attention to grocery prices (30%), cutting back on “splurge” items (24%), being more mindful of food waste and leftovers (23%), and choosing store or generic brands (23%).
- Half of Americans (49%) say it’s hard to afford food, with just 22% reporting that they have no difficulty affording food right now. An additional 30% say it’s not very difficult.
The survey was administered using a nonprobability-based sample, and quotas were used to ensure the sample base represented the overall population.
“We’re coming out of an inflationary period. People’s budgets are strained. Everybody sees the price of food,” David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University, told CNN.
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Here’s what the top 10 grocery chain CEOs make
A number of the top players on the list actually no longer hold the top job at their company. Walmart’s former CEO Doug McMillon retired earlier this year, while Target’s Brian Cornell moved into the executive chairman role, and Kroger’s CEO resigned.
In addition, Grocery Outlet and Albertsons added new CEOs in 2025.
Below is a look at the pay packages of the CEOs of the top U.S. grocery retailers in 2025, first published by Grocery Dive and verified by TheStreet. The data are based on figures in proxy statements the companies filed with the SEC or published on their websites.
Publix, it should be noted, is not a publicly traded company, but it’s employee-owned, so it does share some financial data, including CEO compensation.
- Doug McMillon, Walmart: The now-former Walmart CEO made a total of $29.1 million in 2025. That’s $25.1 million in salary, and a cash bonus of $4.03 million, according to an SEC filing. He also received 209,611 shares of Walmart stock.
- Brian Cornell, Target: Cornell, earned $21.8 million during the retailer’s fiscal 2025, which began on Feb. 2, 2025, up more than $1.4 million from 2024. His stock awards increased by almost $2.5 million compared with the prior fiscal year, while his bonus declined by more than 40%, according to the company’s SEC filing.
- Susan Morris, Albertsons: In her first year since moving up from the CFO position, Morris earned total compensation of $16.8 million. Her pay, which included a salary of $1.3 million, a $2 million bonus, and more than $11 million in stock awards, was more than twice what she earned in fiscal 2024, according to SEC documents. “Morris is also entitled to use Albertsons’ corporate aircraft for up to 100 hours per year for herself, family and guests at no charge, although she is responsible for income tax related to the value of that travel,” according to Grocery Dive.
- Ron Sargent, Kroger: Sargent, chairman of the Kroger board, was never actually its CEO. Instead, he held the interim title from March 2025 through Feb. 2026, and he was paid $14 million during that period, a salary of just under $4 million and $10 million in stock awards, the company shared in its SEC proxy statement. He ceded the top job to Gregory Foran in February.
- Jack Sinclair, Sprouts Farmers Market: Sinclair actually earned less money in 2025 than he did in 2024. Still, he earned $11.5 million, including a salary of almost $1.3 million, almost $5 million in stock awards, and more than $3.6 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, according to the company’s SEC filing.
The next 5:
- 6. Sandy Douglas, United Natural Foods, Inc.: $9.7 million (SEC filing)
- 7. Jason Potter, Grocery Outlet: $9.5 million (SEC filing)
- 8. Frans Muller, Ahold Delhaize: $8.6 million (SEC filing)
- 9. Jonathan Weis, Weis Markets: $6.8 million (SEC filing)
- 10. Kevin Murphy, Publix: $4.2 million (SEC filing)
It’s important to note that there are two common ways to measure CEO compensation.
“The first is estimated or grant-date pay. This includes the CEO’s salary, bonus, the value of restricted stock, and the estimated value of options issued that year. This is the compensation the board awards the CEO and, therefore, the appropriate measure of board governance effectiveness,” Steven Kaplan, University of Chicago Booth School of Business professor and expert on executive compensation, wrote for the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Kaplan, however, said realized pay provides a better picture of what executives actually take home.
“This includes the CEO’s salary, bonus, the value of restricted stock, and the value of options exercised that year. Because it uses actual option gains (not estimated values), this better measures what the CEO actually takes home,” he shared.
Grocery store CEOs get paid partly based on performance
Aside from Murphy, whose pay was largely salary, the other people on this list received at least some of their pay as bonuses or stock-based compensation, with both tied to performance.
“Stock-related components of CEO compensation constitute a large and increasing share of total compensation. Realized stock awards and stock options made up 67.8% of total CEO compensation in 2006 ($15.57 million out of $22.16 million) and 79.1% of total compensation in 2024 (18.19 million out of 22.98 million),” according to EPI.
That’s a major reason CEO compensation has increased by such a large percentage during that time period.
“The growth of these stock-related components from 2006 to 2024 explains over 100% of the total growth in CEO realized compensation over this period,” the research company added.
Data from the AFL-CIO, a workers’ union, also noted that recent tax changes have helped CEOs take home more money.
“By reducing income tax rates for the wealthy, the Republican One Big Beautiful Bill Act disproportionately benefits corporate CEOs. The average CEO of an S&P 500 company will enjoy a $489,118 tax cut — 639 times more than the median U.S. worker,” the AFL-CIO’s Executive Pay Watch.
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