Between 2014 and 2015, the median pay of CEOs from almost 300 S&P 500 companies fell 3.8 percent from $11.2 million to $10.8 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.
This is the largest decline in pay since 2008.
The finding is based on WSJ's analysis of compensation data from Puerto Rico-based MyLogIQ, an SEC compliance company. The companies' fiscal year 2015 data was calculated between July 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016.
"Increases in CEO pay have taken a bit of a pause this year," said John Roe, managing director at ISS Corporate Solutions, according to the report. For those who did receive pay increases, it was "in the places shareholders like to see it coming from most: It's in equity," Mr. Roe added.
For 2015, cash compensation constituted approximately one-third of total CEO pay. Stock options accounted for 60 percent of pay, while perks made up 2 percent and pensions and above-market interest on deferred compensation made up 6 percent.
What can the decline in pay be attributed to? Less growth in CEO pension values. In 2014, pensions at organizations were "an anomaly because of changes in the mortality tables as well as interest rate fluctuations," according to Mark Borges, a consultant with Compensia.
The compensation changes are also based on company performance. "It was a pretty tepid year when it came to performance," said Andrew Goldstein, head of the North American executive pay practice at Willis Towers Watson, according to the report.
Click here to compare compensation and performance data for the S&P 500 CEOs and companies analyzed by WSJ.