American CEOs are so wealthy in part because of stock buybacks, the process of a company purchasing shares of its own stock.

On average, CEOs at top US companies make 281 times as much as the average worker—partly due to valuable stock options that are frequently included in executive compensation packages.

Stock buybacks are when a company purchases some of its own shares of stock

This reduces the number of shares on the market and, therefore, makes the remaining shares more valuable. Buybacks have received a lot of criticism in recent years for many reasons, such as how they could artificially inflate share prices.

The wealthiest Americans own the vast majority of the stock market

Recent data from the Federal Reserve shows that the richest people in America own 93% of all the country's stock—the highest level ever recorded. Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of Americans held just 1% of all stocks.

Should companies be owned by their workers?

In the last half-century, so-called private equity has transformed industries by purchasing private companies, cutting costs, loading up debt, and then selling the business at a premium—all at a huge profit to the investors. Workers, on the other hand, are often left with nothing. Listen to how both pro-worker economists and a private equity stalwart are trying to shift ownership to workers—a growing tactic proven to improve worker satisfaction and company value.

Family CEOs tend to prioritize a non-economic goal: keeping the business in the family

Companies led by family CEOs tend to prioritize corporate social responsibility, but they also tend to invest less in innovation and international growth. They also have more debt on average.

Wealthy Americans are keeping car dealerships afloat

In the past five years, the share of people buying cars above $50K has increased by several-fold. Car prices have significantly increased overall in recent years.

Who are America's highest-paid CEOs?

As of 2024, Apple's Tim Cook, Starbucks' Brian Niccol, and Microsoft's Satya Nadella were among America's highest-paid CEOs, each making tens of millions of dollars per year.

80% of Americans are bothered that some wealthy people don't pay their fair share of taxes

That's according to data from Pew Research Center. While most people are primarily taxed on their wages, many people in America's 1% derive much of their income from investments instead, which are often taxed at preferential capital gains rates. This structure was shaped by a series of legislative cuts that began in earnest with the 1978 Revenue Act and the 1981 Economic Recovery Tax Act.

Most US billionaires made their wealth in banking and finance rather than tech

A third of US billionaires inherited much or all of their enormous fortunes. It can be tough to determine the exact net worth of billionaires given that much of their money is often tied up in company stocks, which fluctuate significantly in a given week. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

American Express is one of Warren Buffett's top stocks

Buffett's long investment in American Express is indicative of his highly principled investment strategy. Buffett often invested in longstanding businesses with strong core products and services. As of 2025, Buffett owned around 20% of all American Express stock, and his investment in American Express made up around 16% of his portfolio.

American Express intentionally targets wealthy cardholders, who spend higher amounts per transaction and tend to make more transactions than the average cardholder, thereby reducing the company's risk.

Ray Dalio has argued that American capitalism is broken, citing economic factors like a growing wealth divide

Dalio also points to stalling income growth, weak healthcare systems, and poor educational outcomes when arguing that American capitalism needs serious reform. However, critics point out that Dalio has amassed a large fortune by running the world's largest hedge fund and question whether Dalio really wants economic reform.

The .1% of Americans once controlled 7% of all US wealth. Today, they control closer to 18%.

Cheap debt and relatively minimal regulation have fueled private equity's expansion in recent years.

Warren Buffett turned a struggling textile mill into Berkshire Hathaway

With Class A shares trading at over $700K per share, Berkshire Hathaway's high stock price reflects Buffett's decades of long-term investing, major acquisitions, and a philosophy that has reshaped modern finance.

Activist investors use large ownership positions to influence companies

By holding large ownership positions, which often come with leveraged access to a company's board or the ability to force a shareholder vote, activist shareholders can change a company's corporate governance, leadership, and overall direction. Critics argue that activist shareholders hurt companies in the long term by prioritizing short-term higher shareholder returns over sustainability and growth efforts.

Private equity deals sometimes come with layoffs.

In late 2025, the top 10 companies in the S&P 500 made up more than 40% of the index's total value

This raised concerns for investors about the index's risk exposure. As many large tech companies continued posting record highs, analysts argued that the top-heavy index was becoming less representative of the economy as a whole.

In 2023 and the first half of 2024, Berkshire Hathaway bought back more than $12B of its own stock

In the second half of 2024, the company—and Buffett—decided to buy up shares of Domino’s Pizza, Pool, Sirius XM Holdings, and Liberty Media. They also decided to sell Capital One, Ulta Beauty, and Nu Holdings, among others. Learn why Buffett is buying and selling these stocks and what it could mean for the financial conglomerate.

Dual-class stock structures separate equity and decision-making authority

In the past few decades, dual-class stock structures have become an increasingly popular way for companies to raise capital in public markets without allocating traditional shareholder voting rights. Meta, Estée Lauder, and The New York Times are companies that are famously dual-class.

Who owns America's wealth?

This visualization breaks down the total net worth of all US households by wealth percentile, listing the number of households in each percentile. As you'll see in the graphic, the total net worth of all US households is close to $160T, and the richer half of the country owns roughly 98% of it. Check out the visual here.

'The stock market' can be loosely defined as a set of exchanges and other places where shares of public companies are bought and sold.

American billionaires' wealth, visualized

America's top 20 billionaires have a combined wealth of $2.7T as of 2024. That's more than Russia's annual GDP. But some billionaires, like Elon Musk, hold a greater share of that $2.7T number than others. To see just how much money each of these 20 billionaires have in comparison to the others in the group, check out this data visualization.

How universities manage their endowments

The CNBC video report explores how elite universities like Harvard handle their massive endowments, the ethical debates around their investments, and the tension between growing wealth and rising college costs. If you’re curious about where billions of dollars in higher education go, why tuition remains high despite huge endowments, or how student activism is pushing for ethical investing, this video offers a revealing, accessible look at the financial engines behind America’s top colleges.

The world's 50 most valuable private companies

While public companies typically have the highest valuations, private companies get close. This list breaks down the top 50 as of 2025, with SpaceX at the top with a value of $350B, followed by ByteDance. Over three-fifths of the list are located in the US, with eight in China.

Mark Zuckerberg has nearly exclusive decision-making authority in Meta

Meta has a dual-class stock structure, meaning there are two types of stock that have different voting rights. Zuckerberg owns 90% of the company's Class B stock, which is allotted 10 votes per share, whereas Class A shareholders get one vote per share. He's also the CEO and the chairman of the board, meaning Zuckerberg has majority control over the company. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Private equity firms often use leveraged buyouts to acquire new companies

In a leveraged buyout or "LBO," private equity funds finance acquisitions with debt secured by the target company's assets and cash flows. The PE firm aims to improve operations and leverage the company's profile to pay down debt, thereby increasing equity value.

Shares are parts of a stock that represent ownership of a company

Shares are traded on the stock market. Once you buy a single share of a company, you are considered a shareholder of that company and may have certain rights as a partial owner, such as voting on business decisions.

The 'Big Three' asset managers—Vanguard, State Street, and BlackRock—collectively manage more than $30T in assets and are the largest shareholders in roughly 88% of all the companies listed on the S&P 500.

As of 2021, 8.2% of Fortune 500 CEOs were women

Eighty-five percent of those women were white. A data visualization breaks down what the face of corporate America looks like, plus provides information about the history of female CEOs on the Fortune 500 list.

US IPO issuance—the total dollar amount of new stock sold to the public via IPOs—hit a record high in 2026.

How popular are America's billionaires?

The US has more billionaires than any other country, and they are a mix of media moguls, entrepreneurs, and entertainers. This list ranks the 10 richest Americans by their popularity. The oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, ranks highest in favorability at 52%, while Google cofounder Sergey Brin ranks lowest—likely because 72% of respondents didn't recognize his name.

Between 2016 and 2023, PE spent more than $200B buying British companies

Between the COVID-19 pandemic and the United Kingdom's official departure from the European Union, the UK's economy struggled to recover. This economic strife led to British companies receiving steadily lower valuations than American companies, prompting a huge increase in PE investment. However, interest rates began increasing in 2022, putting pressure on the numerous leveraged buyout deals that took place between 2020 and 2021.

Wealthy, 'chaebol' families rule South Korea's economy

A handful of huge family-run conglomerates, or chaebol, are the engines of South Korea’s economy, with Samsung alone representing 20% of the country’s GDP. This gives the chaebol (literally “wealth group”) outsized power, often leading to corruption, labor violations, and anticompetitive practices. One economist interviewed in this Vice documentary says the chaebol have replaced Korean democracy with corporatocracy.

Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos' wealth primarily stems from his Amazon ownership stake.

The venture capital mindset is shaping the US into a 'portfolio state'

For decades, the US has operated as a low-regulation, private-sector-driven, globalized economy (also known as neoliberalism). In recent years, the Trump administration has taken direct stakes (rather than providing subsidies) in private companies with strategic products like semiconductors and rare earths. This paper argues the approach allows the US to capture the upside of growth.

Explore a tool that shows how much stake large asset managers, including BlackRock, hold in public companies.

Former Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett is among the world's most generous philanthropists, having given away more than $68B.

Bezos owned roughly 8% of Amazon as of 2025

Three decades after founding Amazon, Jeff Bezos has built a sprawling empire of businesses and financial interests. Other large stakeholders in the company include Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy and Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie Scott. This article provides more details on who owns how much of Amazon.

More than 650 companies went public in the US in 1996

As the dot-com bubble reached its peak, most dot-com companies went public with little proof of being profitable and were often overvalued. In 1999, the Nasdaq's price-to-earnings ratio (a tool used to determine a stock's value that divides its price by earnings) hit 90.2, signaling that many companies were operating at a net loss. Startups promised investors that more time and money would help scale their businesses and become profitable.

The average pay for family office executives has soared

As the number of family offices grows, they’re battling for top talent with traditional financial institutions by bulking up pay and incentive packages.

BlackRock sponsored the Federal Reserve's purchasing of corporate debt through exchange-traded funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, while it simultaneously sold some of its own shares on the secondary market—sparking controversy over potentially unfair advantages.

Companies often use different share classes, like Class A or Class B, to structure ownership

Share classes refer to specific types of company stock that are distinguished by the rights they grant, such as voting power and dividend access.

American Express runs on a 'spend-centric' model, using perks and merchant fees to drive profit

American Express cardholders tend to spend more money per transaction than other credit card users, which makes the interchange fees merchants have to pay to accept American Express cards worth it while incentivizing other companies to pay the interchange fee as well.

Nearly half of billionaires planned to increase exposure to direct private equity investments in 2026.

The number of publicly traded companies has decreased in recent years.

In 1996, more than 7,300 companies traded publicly on US stock markets, but that number has recently dropped to 4,300. Economists point to two reasons: First, going public requires full disclosure of operations, exposing it to scrutiny from investors, competitors, and analysts. Second, the IPO process is expensive and time-consuming.

American Express is one of the top-ranked places to work in the US

In 2026, American Express came in eighth place in Forbes' annual ranking of the best large workplaces (meaning workplaces with more than 5,000 employees). It's the top-ranked finance company on the list. The rankings were determined by survey data that asked employees to anonymously rate the salary, opportunity for advancement, benefits, and workplace at their company.

Companies go public via an initial public offering (IPO) to raise large amounts of capital, helping them expand, invest in new ventures, hire more staff, or pay off debts.

Despite being completely legal to discuss salaries with your coworkers, the practice largely remains taboo in the US, particularly amongst older workers.

Pay transparency—once considered taboo—is gaining momentum. Despite being legally protected since 1935, open salary discussions have only recently become more common, especially among younger workers. This overview explores how cultural norms, economic shifts, and new state laws are reshaping the conversation around what we earn.

See Berkshire Hathaway's current market cap and cash on hand

Warren Buffett's holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, has one of the highest-valued stocks in history due to its collection of successful companies. As of 2024, Berkshire owned companies including Dairy Queen and GEICO.