Executive pay gap in Brazil's Ibovespa companies rises to 434 times median salary

Data compiled by governance specialist Renato Chaves reveals a widening pay gap among Brazil's largest companies. According to 2025 data from 79 Ibovespa companies, the average ratio between the highest-paid executive and the median employee reached 434 to 1, a significant increase from the previous year's ratio of 184 to 1.

SmartFit led the ranking, reporting a CEO compensation ratio of 1,151 times that of the median employee. These figures are made available through mandatory reference forms required by the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) since 2023.

Experts note that while companies justify high executive salaries as necessary for talent retention and growth, the transparency of these explanations varies. Danilo Gregório of the Instituto Brasileiro de Governança Corporativa (IBGC) emphasized that investors require high-quality disclosures to understand these discrepancies, suggesting that reporting should ideally include details per individual member rather than just minimum, average, and maximum values.