Taxpayers have subsidized the fortunes of one third of the country's wealthiest CEOs, according to a new report from liberal think tank, the Institute for Policy Studies.

More precisely: Over one-third of the nation's highest-paid CEOs from the past two decades led companies that were subsidized by American taxpayers via government bailouts and contracts.

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Of the 500 total companies boasting the country's highest paid CEOs, "103 were banks that received government bailouts under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, while another 62 were among the nation's most prolific government contractors."

IPS noted, "Sky-high CEO pay purportedly reflects the superior value that elite chief executives add to their enterprises and the broader U.S. economy But our analysis reveals widespread poor performance within America's elite CEO circles. Chief executives performing poorly -- and blatantly so -- have consistently populated the ranks of our nation's top-paid CEOs over the last two decades."