Of the roughly 30 million businesses in the U.S., fewer than 6,000 are publicly traded and only the largest 8 percent of these public companies make it into the S&P 500. Despite this reality, most media outlets focus on the $12 million
average pay package among S&P 500 company CEOs—or even more misleading, the $38.7 million average annual pay package for the CEOs of the largest 200 companies.
According to the just released 2014-2015 CEO and Senior Executive Compensation in Private Companies Report, produced by Chief Executive Group, the median private company CEO earned $343,000 in cash compensation in 2013 (base salary and bonus) and total compensation of $378,000 including benefi ts, perks and equity gains.
Median total compensation for private company CEOs was up approximately 5 percent from the prior year—outpacing the inflation rate of 1.5 percent in 2013—but not growing as fast as pubic-company CEO compensation packages. The S&P 500 median package increased by 9.5 percent over the same period.
As one would expect, CEO compensation is positively correlated with a company’s size and complexity, as well as its performance, and it accelerates quickly among the largest companies—given the leverage in value creation as a company’s scale increases.
Even when accounting for size, public company CEO’s make much more than CEOs of comparably sized private companies. It is understandable that public company CEOs would make more, on average, than their private company peers given the additional complexity (e.g., compliance requirements), increased scrutiny/pressure and the shorter tenures on average, but the size of the gap is noteworthy.
Most CEOs are leaders who build businesses, create jobs and contribute to their communities. While some people continue to vilify all CEOs for excess pay and mistakenly assume that all CEOs enjoy the rich compensation packages of the largest public company CEOs, the reality is far different. Regardless, even the highest paid CEOs make less on average than leading actors, sports stars and other celebrities, and they have much greater responsibilities.
For more information about the 2014-2015 CEO & Senior Executive Compensation Report for Private Companies, which includes benchmarking data by quartile on base salaries, bonuses, benefits, perks and equity compensation for CEOs and nine other senior executive positions (e.g. president, COO/GM, CFO, CMO, VP Sales, VP R&D, VP HR) and how these benchmarks vary by company size, industry, type of ownership and other key variables, please visit ChiefExecutive.net/compreport.
Chief Executive Group exists to improve the performance of U.S. CEOs, senior executives and public-company directors, helping you grow your companies, build your communities and strengthen society. Learn more at chiefexecutivegroup.com.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
