Thanks to the streaking stock market, CEOs took home a median pay package over $10 million last year according to The Associated Press.

The increase of 8.8 percent from $9.6 million in 2012 was the fourth consecutive increase in CEO pay. Now, CEOs make about 257 times the average worker's salary. In 2009, CEOs made 181 times more than workers.

Recently, companies have urged for the way CEOs are paid to be changed. Instead of cash and stock options, they are opting to pay CEOs in stocks.

Since the stock market has been surging in recent times, CEO pay has surged as well. 

"Companies have been happy with their CEOs' performance and the stock market has provided a big boost," said Gary Hewitt, director of research at GMI Ratings, a corporate governance research firm. "But we are still dealing with a situation where CEO compensation has spun out of control, and CEOs are being paid extraordinary levels for their work." 

Anthony Petrello, the CEO of oilfield-services company Nabors Industries, was the top-paid CEO in 2013. He made $68.3 million last year thanks to the renegotiation of his contract.

Second in CEO pay for 2013 was CBS' Leslie Moonves. Moonves' pay rose 9 percent in 2013 to $65.6 million. In 2013, the company stock rose almost 70 percent.

"CBS's share appreciation was not only the highest among major media companies; it was near the top of the entire S&P 500," CBS said in a statement. "Mr. Moonves' compensation is reflective of his continued strong leadership." 

A CEO for a precious metals company Richard Anderson was next on the list of CEO pay. Anderson, of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, earned $55.3 million in total pay in 2013. Anderson took a one time payment of $36.7 million to rework his contract.

Bank CEOs enjoyed the biggest hike in pay. They saw their pay rise 22 percent in 2013. Additionally they also saw their pay rise 22 percent in 2012.

Not all shareholders will approve CEO pay hikes. Just this month, 75 percent of Chipotle Mexican Grill shareholders voted against a pay raise for the company's co-CEOs Steve Ellis and Montgomery Moran.

"Companies are now taking the time to think through their pay practices and are talking more with shareholders," Hewitt of GMI Ratings said. "There's still a long way to go but pay practices are getting better."