WASHINGTON – Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) believes CEOs are being paid too much, saying regulating pay at a federal level would be “a very good idea.”
Ellison has recently been focused on pay disparities between CEOs and the average worker, claiming CEOs are “hoarding” money. This month, Ellison’s office released a report highlighting the disparities, saying CEOs make on average 339 times more than the median employee.
In an interview on Bloomberg last week, Ellison said CEOs are making an “exorbitant amount of money” and the pay disparities are “bad and extreme.” When pressed by the host on whether he was advocating for federally regulated pay, Ellison was quick to praise the idea.
“I think it is a very good idea, and I think we should start talking about it,” Ellison said.
Ellison wants to make pay disparities a national conversation and believes policymakers should lead the way on the issue. Ellison claims the overall health of a company is at risk when CEOs are paid an “exorbitant” amount. According to Ellison the “risks” CEOs take in order to earn larger salaries should concern shareholders and investors.
“This is a broad conversation that needs to, of course, take in policymakers like me,” Ellison said. “But shareholders and investors need to be worried about this too because I do not think this leads to the overall health of the company. I think it takes care of a few people at the tip-top.”
Ellison has made headlines recently for championing similar far left positions, going after corporations and CEOs and advocating for greater redistribution of wealth in the United States. In an interview earlier this year, Ellison called for a maximum wage, saying executives making far more than their employees should be taxed more to make up for the inequality. Following the controversial interview, Ellison praised the idea of a universal basic income as a solution, saying the concept “has a lot of merit.”
Watch Ellison’s interview on Bloomberg below:
