Beyond the Headlines - Executive Pay in a Pandemic Year
Dear Friend,
As proxy season wound down this year, there were numerousarticles declaring that CEOs are receiving record pay despite the toll of the pandemic on shareholders and stakeholders. That’s created the impression of a “heads I win, tails you lose” system where executives are shielded while workers bear the brunt of the financial pain.
Though it’s true that executive pay has continued to rise, Farient wanted to dive deeper than the headlines and look at some of the drivers of executive pay.
By looking at three components of compensation – base salary, short-term incentives and bonuses, and long-term incentives – we uncover a more nuanced picture – one in which board of directors did indeed slow the growth of payouts later in 2020 in response to the pandemic.
Beyond the Headlines - Executive Pay in the Pandemic Year
Are executives shielded from the ill effects of the pandemic? In this Farient brief, we take a dive into the 2021 proxy season and the reported rise in CEO pay.
Chief executives at S&P 1500 companies experienced sluggish pay growth last year. Farient’s Marc Hodak spoke with Agenda about when we can expect it to resume its upward climb.
In Financial Times, RJ Bannister advises boards should include individuals with the skills to integrate net-zero goals in strategies such as cost-cutting, efficiency gains, and risk management.
Today's Tech Founders Don't Just Own the Company. They're Also Getting Huge Pay Packages
Today’s startup founders are benefitting from a new trend: pay packages consisting of giant special stock awards. Farient’s Robin Ferracone discussed how these awards might not be a best governance practice in the Wall Street Journal.
Marc Hodak is a Partner at Farient Advisors with more than 20 years of experience as a compensation and corporate governance consultant. He has developed executive and board compensation programs for global companies, both private and public, including extensive work around goal setting, performance and perverse incentives.
About Farient
Farient Advisors LLC is an independent executive compensation, performance, and corporate governance consultancy. Farient provides a comprehensive array of services to boards and management, including compensation program design, performance measurement and goal setting, pay and performance alignment, board of directors’ compensation, and shareholder communications, among others. Farient is located in Los Angeles, New York, Louisville, and Dallas and is a founding partner of the Global Governance and Executive Compensation Group (GECN), serving clients in more than 35 countries throughout the world. Farient is recognized by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council as a certified diverse company.
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