Jeff Bezos Earned 59 Times The Average Amazon Worker In 2017

SEATTLE, WA - It shouldn't be a surprise that the world's richest man earns more than his employees. But now we know exactly how much Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos earns compared to those who work for him.

In 2017, Bezos was compensted $1,681,840. The average Amazon worker, including those who work in corporate jobs, earned $28,446. To put it another way, Bezos' compensation was 59 times higher than his average employee. Amazon calculated that figure based on salaries of its worldwide employees, including season and part-time workers.

That pay disparity was disclosed in Amazon's 2017 proxy report, which was released Thursday. The proxy report noted that Bezos' base salary is just over $81,000, which might not even be enough to live in Seattle comfortably. The company counted the $1.6 million in security costs for Bezos toward his salary.

Of course, total worth is much more than $1.6 million. According to Bloomberg, Bezos is worth about $119 billion - that's about 41,000 times the average $28,446 salary.

Amazon sent Patch a statement about the figure, pointing out that all Amazon employees have access to multiple benefits outside of pay.

Amazon proudly employs over 560,000 people around the world. These roles range from associates working in our fulfillment centers to customer service representatives to software engineers and product managers. We also offer employees a lot of flexibility, from part-time to seasonal to full-time. And we employ people in more than 50 countries – from the U.S. to Poland to India. Our median pay is across that entire range of our workforce – global, full and part-time, and every area of the company. In every country and every sector where we employee people, we offer highly competitive wage and benefits such as company stock, health insurance and retirement savings, innovative parental leave, and training for in-demand jobs through our Career Choice program.

Other Amazon executives earn relatively modest annual salaries too. Their real rewards come in bonuses and stock ownership. In 2017, consumer services vice president Jeff Wilke earned a base salary of $175,000, and got another $10,000 toward his retirement fund. But in 2016, Wilke got a $32.7 million stock award - enough to get him through a lean 2017.

According to salary reports on Glassdoor.com, the average Amazon warehouse worker earns about $13 per hour. Working full time, that's an annual base salary of $24,960. A warehouse employee earning $13 per hour but only working 30 hours per week would be eligible for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, according to Washington state income guidelines.

Jobs at Amazon corporate pay much better. A summer MBA intern earns almost $9,000 per month, according to Glassdoor. An entry-level software engineer earns about $105,000 per year.

Amazon has about 566,000 full and part-time employees around the world, according to the company's 2017 annual report.

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