Jackpot for CEOs, Pennies for Pit Bosses: Same 3 Gaming Giants Make ‘Low-Wage 100′ List

• Caesars, MGM, and Las Vegas Sands have been named as three of the 100 Standard and Poors companies with the lowest median pay for workers
• Workers at those gaming firms earned median wages of between $42,426 and $47,607 last year 
• The CEO’s for those companies made between $15.8 million and $21.9 million, respectively, last year

Three gaming giants (Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts and Las Vegas Sands) have once again landed on the “Low-Wage 100.” This dishonor roll calls out the 100 S&P corporations with the lowest median worker pay.

Caesars, MGM and Las Vegas Sands have made every Low-Wage 100 list since the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and its watchdog site, inequality.org, began publishing them in 2019. No other gaming corporation has ever made the list.

Chief Excess Officers

IPS’ broader “Executive Excess” list exposes the most extreme CEO-to-worker pay ratios among the Low-Wage 100. Here’s how the gaming giants ranked:

1. Las Vegas Sands (516:1): CEO Robert Goldstein made $21.9 million to the median wage worker’s $42,426
2. Caesars Entertainment (419:1): CEO Tom Reeg made $18.4 million to the median wage worker’s $43,880
3. MGM Resorts (332:1): CEO Bill Hornbuckle made $15.8 million to the median wage worker’s $47,607

In 2023, the ratios were even more lopsided:

1. Caesars led with a staggering 560:1
2. Las Vegas Sands followed at 532:1
3. MGM Resorts trailed with 374:1

Since 2019, Caesars Entertainment’s CEO pay rose 106.4% while its median worker pay rose 40.8%, Las Vegas Sands’ CEO pay rose 38.9% while its median worker pay rose 18.3%, and MGM Resorts’ CEO pay rose 20.3% while its median worker pay rose 22.2%.

Since 2019, only Las Vegas Sands’ CEO-to-worker pay ratio showed a significant contraction. It decreased 11.8%, while MGM Resorts’ decreased by 1.5% and Caesars’ CEO-to-worker pay ratio skyrocketed 47%.

Conspicuous by its absence from this conversation is gaming giant Wynn Resorts. Not only has it never appeared on the Low Wage 100 list, it has consistently landed on Forbes’ “Best Employers” and Fortune’s “Most Admired Companies” lists.

Beyond the S&P

Because the Low Wage 100 only included the largest 500 corporations in the US, The Nevada Current compiled its own list. By researching 2024 SEC filings, the website found the following CEO-to-worker pay ratios among gaming corporations that didn’t make the S&P 500:

1. Penn Entertainment (734:1): CEO Jay Snowden made $26.6 million to the median worker’s $36,322
2. Boyd Gaming (304:1): CEO Keith Smith made $11.5 million to the median worker’s $37,755
3. Golden Entertainment (155:1): CEO Blake Sartini made $5.4 million to the median worker’s $34,783
4. Red Rock Resorts (78:1): CEO Frank Fertitta made $3.3 million to the median worker’s $42,864
5. Bally’s Corp (54:1): CEO Robeson Reeves made $2.3 million to the median worker’s $41,912