The Advisors' Blog

We’ve blogged about higher support for say-on-pay resolutions this year. Alongside that, fewer companies are experiencing failed votes. This Glass Lewis update confirms just how pronounced the trend is:

– Average North American say-on-pay support increased slightly year-over-year, and the number of failed proposals was down by more than 20%, particularly outside the S&P 500.

– Among four failed S&P 500 proposals, two were repeat offenders, also failing to receive majority support for the say-on-pay proposal in 2025.

– Excessive CEO granting practices were at the center of all four failed S&P 500 say-on-pay votes.

The Glass Lewis team also noted that one-time awards and increases at the top of the U.S. market drove an increase in average CEO pay. Here’s more detail:

– The total value of one-time awards, and average award size, continued to trend upward. In the S&P 500, $2.7 billion in one-time awards were granted, up 40.8% from the prior year, with average values increasing by 22.7% to $3.7 million. This drove average CEO pay up 17.8% compared to 2025, to $11.5 million. For the Russell 3000, $8.6 billion in one-time awards were granted, up 47.6% from the prior year, with average award size up 34.1% to $2.3 million.

– While the average value of individual sign-on awards fell slightly year-over-year, that of most other one-time award categories saw significant rises compared to the prior year. This was, in part, driven by awards at the top end of the value range.

– The number of S&P 500 CEOs with pay packages of $100 million+ doubled from 5 in 2025 to 10 in 2026.

– Median CEO pay growth continued, though more slowly than in recent years among the S&P 500.

– Liz Dunshee