Buffett Blasts Snowballing CEO Pay: Greed and Envy Driving Extravagant Compensation

On November 11, 2025, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett expressed his concerns about the growing trend of excessive CEO compensation. In his final annual shareholder letter before stepping down, Buffett suggested that chief executives are driven by greed and selfishness to continuously increase their own pay after seeing competitors receive higher remuneration.

Buffett's comments come on the heels of Tesla investors approving CEO Elon Musk's record-breaking $1 trillion pay package just last week. This compensation package, contingent on Tesla reaching an $8.5 trillion market capitalization, would make Musk the world's first trillionaire. The very next day, Rivian announced a $4.6 billion compensation package for its CEO, RJ Scaringe, over the next decade, modeled after Musk's plan.

Buffett, who has led Berkshire Hathaway for 60 years, believes that the disclosure of CEO pay was intended to humble executives, but instead, it has become a contest of superiority. He argues that the new rules have produced envy, not moderation, as CEOs constantly compare their compensation to that of their competitors.