2025: The Year Corporate America Spent $1 Trillion on Itself—While Workers Fell Behind

New York, Wednesday, 17 June 2026.
In 2025, U.S. corporations shattered records by spending over $1 trillion on stock buybacks—an unprecedented windfall for shareholders. Meanwhile, real wages for low-wage workers declined by 0.3%, deepening income inequality. The stark contrast reveals a corporate strategy prioritizing short-term shareholder gains over wage growth, workforce investment, or long-term stability. With CEO pay ratios soaring to 632-to-1 and productivity gains outpacing wage growth by nearly 3-to-1 since 1979, the data exposes a systemic imbalance. Even a 1% buyback tax failed to curb the trend, raising urgent questions about corporate accountability and economic fairness.