hazen declined to talk to nbc news hca saying in part, "we value our colleagues and are committed to offering competitive compensation and benefits." and yet the great national divide between the income of those at the top and those at the bottom persists the heads of corporations like ge, starbucks and acuity brands received more than 1,000 times their average workers last year, with walgreen's then ceo earning over 500 times. none of those ceos agreed to speak with nbc news each company saying their practices align with their shareholders' interests and that the ceo will take a hit if their stock price falls. but since 1978 ceo compensation has risen over 1,000%. compared with only a 14% increase for average workers. in theory, ceos are handsomely paid to increase a company's value. >> the problem is not that somebody's getting paid a lot of money. the problem is they get paid whether they do well or whether they do badly. >> reporter: glenn kelman, the ceo of redfin, a real estate brokerage firm, is bucking the trend. under kelman's leadership redfin more than tripled in value to
