Stock, options fueling outsize gains for CEOs Executives scoring big gains from stock options, restricted shares Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/1G3HpaD Scores of CEOs rode Wall Street's aging bull market for big windfalls in 2014, a year that's shaping up as a record for executive compensation. Among the 100 biggest publicly held companies reporting so far, median CEO pay rose 5% to $14.3 million, and among nearly 25% of Standard & Poor's 500 companies, median pay climbed 12% to $11.7 million, according to pay tracker Equilar and compensation consultant Towers Watson.