CEOs earn 273 times the average worker

It pays to be the CEO.

The economic recovery has lifted the pay of chief executives back to pre-recession times, at least compared to the average worker in their industry, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute.

CEO-to-worker pay ratio is back up to 273, after falling to 193 in 2009.

Average CEO compensation was $14.1 million in 2012, according to EPI. The organization looks at the chief execs of the top 350 firms and includes the value of stock options exercised in a given year and compares it to the annual compensation of workers in the key industry of the firm.

But those in the corner office still have a ways to go before returning to the heydays of the tech boom. The ratio hit a high of 383 in 2000.