Executive compensation at big US public companies remains a hot topic and some companies are starting to feel the heat from shareholders. With almost 3,600 DEF 14A proxy statements filed through the year so far, we wanted to take a look at CEO pay at the biggest companies. Of the big companies that have filed, there are 62 companies with CEOs in the “$25 Million Plus Pay Club.” Among the club members, there are undoubtedly some companies with a great track record under the CEO’s stewardship, but a number have clearly underperformed relative to peers (the Boardroom Alpha rating is one way to see this).
For the underperformers, we’d like to see shareholders hold the boards accountable by voting directly against the directors. In our view, the non-binding Say-on-Pay vote is a nice signal, but won’t make the company’s stewards really feel it. But, if directors suddenly see shareholders holding them accountable, they will start to feel the pain and, hopefully, start steering the ship in a new direction.
$25 Million Plus Pay Club Highlights
- Both Netflix (NFLX) and Lennar (LEN) have Co-CEOs so, you’ll see those companies listed twice below and shareholders will feel double the pain when they see the amount of CEO pay.
- AMC Entertainment (AMC) continues to pay CEO Adam Aron a hefty $25.4 million compensation package despite the stock dropping an annualized -34.7% over his tenure. At the 2023 shareholder meeting, shareholders made their opinion clear with only 48% supporting the advisory vote on executive compensation. We wonder why, given performance, even 48% supported it.
- TPG Inc (TPG) and Carlyle Group (CG) top the list, each with pay packages approaching $200 million. In each case, base salary is less than 0.5% of the package with stock being the primary reward.
- New Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) CEO Timothy Cofer took over just this week (April 26th to be exact) and will have an annual base salary of be $1.25M, with a STIP target at 150% of his base salary and an annual award target value under LTIP of $4.0M. Much of his 2023 pay comes from KDP compensating him for forgone incentive compensation from Central Garden & Pet Company (CENT) when he came over initially as COO.
- Gary Dickerson, CEO of Applied Materials (AMAT) has one of the most impressive runs as CEO. He’s got the stock price up over 1,420% (29% annualized) since he took the helm in 2013 and the stock seems set to continue its strong recent run.
- The “$25 Million Plus Club” use 13 different compensation consultants to help set pay, but just 5 — Frederic W. Cook, Semler Brossy, Compensia, Aon, and Pay Governance — account for nearly 70% of the plans.
Catch up on the latest Activism and Governance research from Boardroom Alpha:
- Despite Shareholders Losing Over 3 Years, CEO Pay is Up at These Companies
- 2024 Say-On-Pay Votes: 25 Companies Where Shareholders Are Unhappy
- Weekly Activism & Executive Moves Review (April 26)
- Vanguard & Blackrock Should Vote “AGAINST” Directors at These April Shareholder Meetings
- Weekly Activism & Executive Moves Review (April 19)
The List of “$25 Million Plus Pay Club” CEOs
| Ticker | Company | CEO | CEO TSR (annualized) | CEO Pay: 2023 |
CEO Pay: % Salary |
Tenure | CEO Rating | Compensation Consultant | Proxy Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TPG | TPG INC | Jon Winkelried | 14.2% | $198.7M | 0.3% | 2.3 | B+ | Korn Ferry, Semler Brossy | View |
| CG | CARLYLE GROUP INC | Harvey M Schwartz | 26.0% | $187.0M | 0.4% | 1.2 | B- | Pay Governance | View |
| AVGO | BROADCOM INC | Hock E Tan | 37.6% | $161.8M | 0.7% | 18.2 | A+ | Meridian | View |
| CHTR | CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS INC | Christopher L Winfrey | -25.7% | $89.1M | 1.9% | 1.4 | C- | Semler Brossy | View |
| APP | APPLOVIN CORP | Arash Adam Foroughi | 2.6% | $83.4M | 0.5% | 12.4 | B+ | Aon, Deloitte Consulting, Mercer, Semler Brossy | View |
| AAPL | APPLE INC | Timothy D Cook | 23.8% | $63.2M | 4.7% | 12.7 | A | Pay Governance | View |
| NFLX | NETFLIX INC | Theodore A Sarandos | 1.2% | $49.8M | 6.0% | 3.8 | B+ | Compensia | View |
| WBD | WARNER BROS DISCOVERY INC | David Zaslav | 0.0% | $49.7M | 6.0% | 17.3 | C- | Pay Governance | View |
| PLTK | PLAYTIKA HOLDING CORP | Robert Antokol | -36.1% | $49.0M | 0.0% | 4.6 | C- | Pearl Meyer & Partners | View |
| BKNG | BOOKING HOLDINGS INC | Glenn D Fogel | 12.3% | $46.7M | 1.6% | 7.3 | B | Semler Brossy | View |
| ADBE | ADOBE INC | Shantanu Narayen | 15.6% | $44.9M | 3.3% | 16.4 | A | Compensia | View |
| LBTYA | LIBERTY GLOBAL LTD | Michael T Fries | 2.2% | $44.6M | 5.8% | 18.9 | C- | Deloitte Consulting, Pearl Meyer & Partners | View |
| PYPL | PAYPAL HOLDINGS INC | James Alexander Chriss | 18.5% | $41.9M | 0.7% | 0.6 | C- | Compensia | View |
| INFA | INFORMATICA INC | Amit Walia | 2.7% | $41.4M | 1.7% | 4.3 | A- | Aon, Compensia | View |
| ROP | ROPER TECHNOLOGIES INC | Laurence Neil Hunn | 10.7% | $41.3M | 2.4% | 5.7 | B- | Compensia | View |
| NFLX | NETFLIX INC | Gregory K Peters | 54.4% | $40.1M | 7.2% | 1.3 | A | Compensia | View |
| NOW | SERVICENOW INC | William R McDermott | 24.6% | $37.6M | 3.5% | 4.5 | B | Compensia, Frederic W. Cook | View |
| TMUS | T-MOBILE US INC | G Michael Sievert | 17.7% | $37.5M | 4.7% | 4.1 | B | Mercer | View |
| AXP | AMERICAN EXPRESS CO | Stephen J Squeri | 16.2% | $35.7M | 4.2% | 6.3 | A- | Semler Brossy | View |
| CMCSA | COMCAST CORP | Brian L Roberts | 8.7% | $35.5M | 7.0% | 21.5 | C+ | Korn Ferry | View |
| RJF | RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL INC | Paul C Reilly | 15.2% | $34.9M | 2.1% | 14.0 | A | Pay Governance | View |
| LEN | LENNAR CORP | Stuart A Miller | 26.9% | $34.3M | 2.9% | 0.7 | B | Frederic W. Cook | View |
| DAL | DELTA AIR LINES INC | Edward H Bastian | 3.5% | $34.2M | 2.8% | 8.0 | C- | Frederic W. Cook | View |
| PEP | PEPSICO INC | Ramon Laguarta | 12.3% | $33.9M | 5.0% | 5.6 | B | Frederic W. Cook | View |
| BA | BOEING CO | David L Calhoun | -6.2% | $32.8M | 4.3% | 3.3 | C- | Frederic W. Cook, Pay Governance | View |
| TTD | TRADE DESK INC | Jeffrey Terry Green | 54.6% | $32.0M | 3.1% | 14.5 | A | Compensia | View |
| DIS | WALT DISNEY CO | Robert A Iger | 9.4% | $31.6M | 2.7% | 1.5 | B- | Pay Governance | View |
| ARES | ARES MANAGEMENT CORP | Michael J Arougheti | 40.0% | $30.6M | 6.3 | B+ | Korn Ferry | View | |
| USFD | US FOODS HOLDING CORP | David E Flitman | 29.7% | $29.9M | 4.3% | 1.3 | A- | Meridian | View |
| CSGP | COSTAR GROUP INC | Andrew C Florance | 19.5% | $29.2M | 3.4% | 37.3 | A | Aon, Mercer, Willis Towers Watson | View |
| LEN | LENNAR CORP | Jonathan M Jaffe | 25.3% | $29.1M | 2.7% | 3.5 | A+ | Frederic W. Cook | View |
| QSR | RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INC | Joshua Kobza | 19.8% | $29.0M | 3.1% | 1.2 | B- | Frederic W. Cook | View |
| ALGN | ALIGN TECHNOLOGY INC | Joseph M Hogan | 18.6% | $29.0M | 4.7% | 8.9 | A- | Aon, Compensia | View |
| FWONA | LIBERTY MEDIA CORP | Greg Maffei | 7.5% | $28.7M | 5.7% | 17.0 | B- | Mercer | View |
| COF | CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP | Richard D Fairbank | 9.4% | $28.6M | 29.8 | B- | Frederic W. Cook | View | |
| BAC | BANK OF AMERICA CORP | Brian T Moynihan | 7.8% | $28.6M | 5.3% | 14.3 | C | Farient Advisors | View |
| JNJ | JOHNSON & JOHNSON | Joaquin Duato | -4.5% | $28.4M | 5.6% | 2.3 | C | Semler Brossy | View |
| AMP | AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL INC | James M Cracchiolo | 16.4% | $28.4M | 4.4% | 18.6 | A | Semler Brossy | View |
| CHRW | C H ROBINSON WORLDWIDE INC | David P Bozeman | -21.6% | $28.0M | 1.8% | 0.9 | D | Semler Brossy | View |
| FI | FISERV INC | Frank Bisignano | 12.1% | $27.9M | 5.0% | 3.8 | C | Pay Governance | View |
| GM | GENERAL MOTORS CO | Mary T Barra | 3.9% | $27.8M | 7.5% | 10.3 | C- | Frederic W. Cook, Semler Brossy | View |
| CB | CHUBB LTD | Evan G Greenberg | 11.4% | $27.7M | 5.6% | 20.0 | B- | Farient Advisors, Mercer, Pay Governance, Willis Towers Watson | View |
| BLK | BLACKROCK INC | Laurence Fink | 19.9% | $26.9M | 5.6% | 26.3 | A | Aon, Semler Brossy | View |
| AMAT | APPLIED MATERIALS INC | Gary E Dickerson | 29.1% | $26.9M | 3.8% | 10.7 | A+ | Semler Brossy | View |
| GS | GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | David M Solomon | 14.8% | $26.7M | 7.5% | 5.6 | B+ | Frederic W. Cook | View |
| HLT | HILTON WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS INC | Christopher J Nassetta | 15.8% | $26.6M | 4.9% | 16.4 | B | Exequity | View |
| CVX | CHEVRON CORP | Michael K Wirth | 8.7% | $26.5M | 6.9% | 6.3 | C- | Meridian | View |
| F | FORD MOTOR CO | James D Farley | 23.3% | $26.5M | 6.4% | 3.6 | A+ | Semler Brossy | View |
| FE | FIRSTENERGY CORP | Brian X Tierney | 6.6% | $26.5M | 3.3% | 0.9 | C+ | Farient Advisors | View |
| T | AT&T INC | John T Stankey | -1.0% | $26.5M | 9.1% | 3.8 | C- | Frederic W. Cook | View |
| ZG | ZILLOW GROUP INC | Richard N Barton | 3.5% | $26.4M | 2.9% | 5.2 | C+ | Aon, Compensia | View |
| CLF | CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC | Lourenco Goncalves | 0.7% | $26.2M | 8.1% | 9.7 | B- | Pearl Meyer & Partners | View |
| JEF | JEFFERIES FINANCIAL GROUP INC | Richard B Handler | 7.8% | $26.1M | 3.8% | 11.2 | C | Pearl Meyer & Partners | View |
| WFC | WELLS FARGO & COMPANY | Charles W Scharf | 6.5% | $26.0M | 9.6% | 4.5 | C+ | Meridian | View |
| KDP | KEURIG DR PEPPER INC | Timothy P Cofer | -0.1% | $25.9M | 0.7% | 0.0 | UN | Deloitte Consulting, Frederic W. Cook | View |
| HUBS | HUBSPOT INC | Yamini Rangan | -4.7% | $25.9M | 0.0% | 2.7 | C | Compensia | View |
| CAT | CATERPILLAR INC | Donald J Umpleby III | 21.9% | $25.8M | 6.8% | 7.3 | A | Aon, Meridian | View |
| MA | MASTERCARD INC | Michael Miebach | 8.6% | $25.7M | 4.8% | 3.3 | C | Frederic W. Cook | View |
| TEVA | TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LTD | Richard D Francis | 34.1% | $25.7M | 6.2% | 1.3 | B+ | Meridian, Semler Brossy | View |
| ABBV | ABBVIE INC | Richard A Gonzalez | 19.3% | $25.7M | 6.6% | 11.3 | A | Semler Brossy | View |
| ADI | ANALOG DEVICES INC | Vincent Roche | 16.9% | $25.5M | 4.4% | 11.1 | C- | Pearl Meyer & Partners | View |
| PM | PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL INC | Jacek Olczak | 5.3% | $25.5M | 6.5% | 3.0 | A- | Frederic W. Cook | View |
| C | CITIGROUP INC | Jane Nind Fraser | 5.2% | $25.5M | 5.9% | 3.3 | C- | Frederic W. Cook | View |
| AMC | AMC ENTERTAINMENT HOLDINGS INC | Adam M Aron | -35.0% | $25.4M | 5.9% | 8.3 | D | Aon | View |