December 17, 2013
Director Pay: Shows Modest Growth
– Broc Romanek, CompensationStandards.com
As noted in this Towers Watson study, pay for directors increased 3% at the median among the Fortune 500 according to proxies filed by June 30th. The findings include:
– Total direct compensation for outside directors increased 3% at the median over the prior year. The typical Fortune 500 director receives almost $227,000 in total direct compensation, up from about $220,000 in last year’s study.
– The median value of total cash compensation increased 8% over the last year, while median stock compensation remained flat. The increase in total cash fees was driven primarily by increases in annual cash retainer values as well as the continuing shift toward flat, retainer-based committee compensation and away from more variable forms of pay, such as per-meeting fees.
– Compensation committee members received a pay bump due, in part, to the additional time and effort required for service on this committee. The median retainer paid to compensation committee members increased 25% last year and now equals what audit committee members receive ($10,000).
Also check out Shearman & Sterling’s annual review of director comp disclosures for large companies that just came out…