Fox Business said United Airlines had not answered questions about CEO Scott Kirby’s compensation when it published an Oct. 20 report, after Kirby urged national taxes on wealth and inheritances.
United Airlines Holdings, Inc.’s 2026 proxy statement puts Kirby’s 2025 total compensation at $32,282,253. It includes $22,565,804 in stock awards valued when they were granted, $8,010,000 in non-equity incentive compensation, $1,200,000 in salary and $506,449 in other compensation. The reported total is not a measure of cash salary.
United estimated that Kirby’s compensation was about 334 times the $96,670 paid to its median employee for the year. The company described the ratio as an estimate calculated using permitted disclosure methods. EconoTimes previously reported the pay comparison.
Fox Business said it asked the airline how Kirby’s pay fit with his concerns about inequality and whether he intended to reduce his compensation. The outlet said it had received no answer when its report was published. Its account describes questions sent to United; it does not say Kirby was asked directly.
In an Oct. 18 interview with The New York Times, Kirby described wealth inequality as a danger to society. He favored a national wealth tax because people could move to avoid a state tax. He also advocated inheritance taxes nearing 100% at an unspecified level and said he would pay the taxes he supported. He gave no rate for the wealth tax.
Kirby’s reported pay measures annual compensation, while his proposals concern wealth and inheritances. The pay figure alone does not establish what he would owe under either proposal. The Internal Revenue Service sets the existing federal estate-tax basic exclusion at $15 million for someone dying in 2026; Kirby did not specify a threshold for the inheritance tax he proposed.
