June 4, 2020
CEO Pay Study Shows Smaller Increase from Prior Years
– Lynn Jokela
A recent Equilar blog reports that it, together with the AP, has released its annual CEO pay study. The study says total compensation includes information disclosed in company proxy statements and includes CEOs that have served in that role at a S&P 500 company for two years as of fiscal year end 2019. Here’s an excerpt from Equilar’s blog:
Median total compensation for individuals included in the 2020 study totaled $12.3 million, a 4.1% increase from the year prior – a slightly smaller pay increase than in 2019 and 2018
This year’s study saw communication services emerge with the highest median CEO pay package among S&P 500 companies at $27.8 million, topping the healthcare industry, which led the way in each of the last two years. The healthcare industry, which includes traditional healthcare, insurance as well as biopharma companies, had the second-highest median CEO pay package at $16.4 million, followed by consumer defensive at $14.0 million. CEOs within the real estate industry were awarded a median $10.4 million, the lowest of the industries in the study.
Studies like this always get scrutinized and this year will likely attract greater scrutiny as companies grapple with furloughs, layoffs and other compensation changes – and, it didn’t take long, here’s an early media piece about the study that questions where CEO pay will go after the pandemic.