Warren Buffett has called out what he sees as a growing culture of excess among corporate leaders, warning that CEO pay has spiralled as executives compare themselves with one another and demand ever-larger packages.

Writing in his annual shareholder letter – his final one before stepping down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO at the end of the year – the 95-year-old investor said many top executives are motivated not by performance but by rivalry.

Buffett argued that compensation has become distorted by competition between wealthy leaders who resent seeing peers earn more, Fortune reported.

“What often bothers very wealthy CEOs—they are human, after all—is that other CEOs are getting even richer," he wrote.

“Envy and greed walk hand in hand. And what consultant ever recommended a serious cut

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