CEO Pay Trends 2020

CEO Pay Trends, an Equilar publication, analyzes the compensation data of chief executive officers at Equilar 500 companies over the last five fiscal years. The Equilar 500 is an index comprised of the largest US-based companies, by revenue trading, on one of the major U.S. stock exchanges. The report analyzes trends surrounding the fluctuations in CEO salaries across industries and how companies award compensation. Meridian Compensation Partners provided an independent analysis to help illustrate the state of CEO pay and offer insight into how pay packages may come to fruition in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

About the Report

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Key Findings

• Median reported total compensation for Equilar 500 CEOs remained consistent from 2018 to 2019 at $12.3 million.
• While CEO compensation decreased in the majority of sectors, pay increased from 2018 to 2019 across the consumer defensive, healthcare, industrial and utilities sectors. Healthcare saw the largest increase at 11.3%.
• Performance awards continued their year-over- year increase in prevalence with a 3.2% increase in 2019 from 2018. This reversed a two-year slowdown in growth, where each year had a smaller increase than the prior year.
• Companies with low levels of Say on Pay support have higher median CEO Pay Ratios than those with higher levels of Say on Pay support.