S&P 500 chief executives made $16.7 million on average in 2022, 272 times the pay of their median workers, a new study showed on Thursday, a decline on both measures over the prior year as CEO compensation fell with poor stock returns. The annual "Executive Paywatch" study released by the AFL-CIO, the top American labor union federation, has become a widely cited gauge of U.S. income inequality. Average CEO pay fell from $18.3 million and 324 times median worker earnings in 2021 for companies in the same index.