By the end of their working day on Thursday, the CEO's of Belgium's 20 biggest companies will have earned as much as an regular employee earns in a whole year, according to calculations by the Christian trade union CNE. The union renamed 8 January "CEO Jackpot Day."
The trade union bases its calculation on the median remuneration of the CEO of a Bel20 company and the median remuneration of an employee (€4,237 gross per month in 2024).
Based on the 2026 calendar, the CEO of a Bel20 company would have earned as much as the median annual wage of a regular employee (€50,844 gross) after five full working days – at the end of the working day on 8 January.
Last year, CEO Jackpot Day also fell on 8 January.
52 times more
This means that the CEO of a Bel20 company – the 20 largest listed companies in the country – earns 52 times the median wage, and 124 times the minimum wage, according to the CNE.
The trade union also examined the evolution of wages. Between 2014 and 2024, the median wage of Bel20 CEOs increased by 92.1%, while the median wage of ordinary employees rose by 42.4% and the minimum wage by 37.9% during the same period.
The CNE stressed that it cites these figures to oppose the existing wage law and cent indexation.
