by Julia Carpenter

The highest paid man made nearly $244 million, according to an analysis by Equilar, an executive and board data provider. The top-paid woman? She made less than $41 million.

The wage gap between men and women, which runs throughout the business world, is widest at the top.

“The wage gap exists at all levels, but it’s most narrow at the lowest-paid jobs, and that’s because everybody really has a bad deal there,” said Ariane Hegewisch, a researcher at the Institute of Women’s Policy Research. “At the top, really, if you miss out on one step … it makes a big difference.”

Compensation in the C-suite is heavily driven by stock options and stock grants — executives are rewarded, often in outsize ways, with equity in their companies. The more the stock goes up, the richer they can become.

Still, women lagged far behind men of similar ranks on the top 15 lists of both genders.

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