New Data on Executive Compensation in ESOP Companies

The NCEO's ESOP Executive Compensation Survey collects and presents some of the only data on executive compensation specific to ESOP companies. We collected data for the latest installment of the survey from October 2016 to January 2017. Our online survey received 419 responses from a diverse group of companies with ESOPs, representing a 12% increase in responses over our last fielding of the survey in 2014. Respondents received a preview of results in appreciation of their participation. Highlighted findings include:

• Median total CEO compensation is $307,758. Median total compensation is $227,300 for CEOs of small companies (100 or fewer employees) and $380,900 for CEOs of larger companies.
• Just under one-third (31%) of the surveyed companies offer stock-based compensation to their CEOs. Of those that do, stock appreciation rights are the most commonly offered (51%), followed by phantom stock (28%).
• Stock-based compensation is most commonly awarded based on individual performance metrics (27%). Twenty-two percent of companies who award stock-based compensation do so annually, while 20% award it based on a company performance metric.

The full survey report is available for purchase. Members can download a free summary of the results in PDF format (member number and password required).