CEO Total Pay
$17.5M
FY2025 Summary Compensation
CAT
FY2025 data Public-data reference. official source
Caterpillar Inc
Data updated July 2026
Open-data reference.
Industrial Machinery & Equipment · DE · FY2025
CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratio
196:1
High (Scale: 0–1000:1)
CEO Pay
$17.5M
Median Worker
$89,253
A component-level pay breakdown (salary, bonus, equity, perks, pension) is not reported in Caterpillar Inc's structured SEC pay-ratio disclosure. Only the CEO-to-median-worker ratio is required under Dodd-Frank §953(b); see our methodology for what each filing does and doesn't disclose.
Caterpillar Inc, a industrial machinery & equipment company, reported a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 196:1 in FY2025. The CEO received total compensation of $17.5M, while the median employee earned $89,253 annually. This is above the Industrial Machinery & Equipment industry median of 141:1 across 58 companies. Data sourced from SEC EDGAR proxy (DEF 14A) filings.
CEO Compensation Breakdown, FY2025
A component-level pay breakdown is not reported in Caterpillar Inc's structured SEC pay-ratio disclosure. See our methodology →
Industry Comparison - Industrial Machinery & Equipment
This Company's Ratio
196:1
Industry Median Ratio
141:1
Industry Median CEO Pay
$9.9M
This CEO's Pay
$17.5M
Companies in Industry
58
vs. Industry Median
Above
Pay-Ratio Rank in Industry
#21 of 58
Understanding This Pay Ratio
Caterpillar Inc's CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 196:1 means that the CEO earned 196 times more than the company's median employee in FY2025.
The median employee at Caterpillar Inc earned $89,253 annually. At that wage, it would take a median employee approximately 196 years to earn what the CEO earned in a single year.
Why cross-company pay-ratio comparisons need caution
SEC rules let each company choose its own methodology for identifying the "median employee" (measurement date, statistical sampling, whether part-time pay is annualized, and a de minimis exemption for up to 5% of non-U.S. employees), so a higher ratio doesn't automatically mean less-fair pay practices, it can also reflect workforce mix (a large offshore, outsourced, or part-time-heavy workforce lowers the reported median and raises the ratio for reasons unrelated to CEO compensation itself).
Pay Ratio
196:1
Elevated vs peers
What This 2025 Filing Tells Us About Caterpillar Inc
According to the 2025 DEF 14A proxy statement filed with the SEC, Caterpillar Inc (CAT, CIK 18230) reported the CEO's total compensation at $17.5M. The proxy statement's structured pay-ratio disclosure reports this total but does not break it down by salary, bonus, equity, or other components. The median employee at the firm, the reference point mandated by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Act, earned $89,253 over the same fiscal year, producing the headline CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 196:1 that this page tracks.
Caterpillar Inc operates in the Industrial Machinery & Equipment sector and is headquartered in DE. Across the Industrial Machinery & Equipment industry (SIC 35), 58 SEC-reporting companies disclosed pay ratios in FY2025, with a median of 141:1 and an average of 170:1. Median industry CEO pay was $9.9M, so Caterpillar Inc's $17.5M sits above that typical figure.
This proxy was filed on 2026-04-30; all figures on this page come directly from that public filing and can be verified against the DEF 14A on the SEC EDGAR system.
What these SEC numbers do and do not include
Total compensation reported under Item 402 of Regulation S-K reflects grant-date fair value for equity awards, not realized pay, so a CEO may eventually cash in more, or less, depending on stock performance and vesting. The pay ratio itself is calculated against a single median employee chosen under rules that allow statistical sampling, and companies may update methodology year to year.
Key Data, FY2025
- CEO
- Not disclosed
- Total Compensation
- $17.5M
- Median Employee Pay
- $89,253
- Pay Ratio
- 196:1
- Filing Date
- 2026-04-30
Company Info
- Ticker
- CAT
- CIK
- 18230
- Industry
- Industrial Machinery & Equipment
- SIC Code
- 3531
- State
- DE
Data Source: This data is sourced from SEC EDGAR proxy statement (DEF 14A) filings. PlainCEOPay provides this publicly available information for informational purposes only. Not investment or financial advice. Verify with official SEC filings at sec.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the CEO pay ratio at Caterpillar Inc? ▼
Caterpillar Inc's CEO-to-worker pay ratio is 196:1. The CEO earned $17.5M in FY2025, while the median employee earned $89,253.
How much does Caterpillar Inc's CEO earn? ▼
The CEO of Caterpillar Inc (CAT) earned total compensation of $17.5M in fiscal year 2025, according to SEC proxy filings.
How does Caterpillar Inc's pay ratio compare to its industry? ▼
Caterpillar Inc's pay ratio of 196:1 is above the Industrial Machinery & Equipment industry median of 141:1. The industry has 58 companies reporting pay ratios. By pay ratio, Caterpillar Inc ranks #21 of 58 companies in Industrial Machinery & Equipment (66th percentile).
Where does Caterpillar Inc's CEO pay data come from? ▼
All executive compensation data is sourced from SEC EDGAR DEF 14A proxy statement filings. Companies are required by the Dodd-Frank Act to disclose CEO-to-median-worker pay ratios annually. PlainCEOPay aggregates this publicly available data for easy comparison.
What is included in the CEO's total compensation? ▼
PlainCEOPay reports the CEO total-compensation figure disclosed with the company's pay-ratio filing. The current dataset does not extract its underlying Summary Compensation Table line items, so this page does not provide a salary, bonus, equity, or other-component breakdown.
How long would it take a median Caterpillar Inc employee to earn the CEO's pay? ▼
At a median salary of $89,253, it would take the typical Caterpillar Inc employee approximately 196 years to earn what the CEO earned in a single year ($17.5M in FY2025).
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Companies With a Similar Pay Ratio
Same-industry (SIC 35) companies closest to Caterpillar Inc's FY2025 pay ratio.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCEOPay
Data currency: Executive compensation from SEC EDGAR DEF 14A proxy statements through fiscal year 2025, compiled and last refreshed July 2026. See our methodology for source dates and refresh cadence. Spot a figure that looks wrong? Report a correction.
Every figure on PlainCEOPay is rendered directly from SEC EDGAR executive compensation filings, no number is typed in by an editor. Executive pay figures are computed directly from SEC EDGAR filings, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.