Table 1

Change in CEO compensation and components, 2016–2019

CEO annual compensation (millions) Components of compensation (millions)
Stock awards Stock options:
Year Realized pay Granted pay  Salary  Bonus  Nonequity incentives  Stock awards, vested  Stock awards, fair value granted Options, value exercised Options, fair value granted Stock-related  realized  items
(1)=3+4+5+6+8 (2)=3+4+5+6+9 (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)=6+8
CEO compensation levels (2019$)
2016 $17.0 $12.7 $1.3 $0.4 $2.9 $7.3 $6.6 $5.2 $1.6 $12.4
2017 $19.0 $12.1 $1.3 $0.3 $3.0 $7.4 $6.1 $6.9 $1.4 $14.3
2018 $18.7 $13.3 $1.3 $0.3 $3.0 $8.5 $7.3 $5.6 $1.5 $14.1
2019 projected $21.3 $14.5 $1.3 $0.3 $2.9 $10.1 $8.5 $6.6 $1.5 $16.7
2018 FH $17.9 $12.9 $1.3 $0.3 $2.9 $8.3 $7.0 $5.2 $1.5 $13.5
2019 FH $20.5 $14.0 $1.3 $0.3 $2.8 $9.8 $8.2 $6.3 $1.4 $16.1
Composition of realized pay
2016 100.0% 7.9% 2.1% 16.9% 42.7% 30.4% 73.1%
2017 100.0% 7.0% 1.8% 15.7% 39.1% 36.4% 75.5%
2018 100.0% 7.0% 1.4% 16.2% 45.5% 30.0% 75.5%
2019 projected 100.0% 6.2% 1.6% 13.6% 47.7% 30.9% 78.6%
2019 FH 100.0% 6.2% 1.6% 13.6% 47.7% 30.9% 78.6%
2018 FH 100.0% 7.1% 1.4% 16.2% 46.1% 29.2% 75.2%
Change, 2017–2018
Level -$0.3 $1.2 -$0.0 -$0.1 $0.0 $1.1 $1.2 -$1.3 $0.0 -$0.2
Percentage -1.5% 9.9% -1.1% -26.1% 1.4% 14.6% 20.2% -19.0% 3.0% -1.6%
Change, 2018–2019
Level $2.6 $1.1 $0.0 $0.1 -$0.1 $1.7 $1.2 $1.0 $0.0 $2.6
Percentage 14.0% 8.6% 1.5% 32.6% -3.9% 19.5% 16.2% 17.5% 0.5% 18.7%
Change, 2016–2019
Level $4.3 $1.8 $0.0 $0.0 $0.0 $2.9 $1.9 $1.4 -$0.1 $4.3
Percentage 25.2% 13.9% -1.0% -6.5% 1.0% 39.8% 28.2% 27.0% -4.2% 34.5%

Notes: CEO average annual compensation is measured for CEOs at the top 350 U.S. firms ranked by sales. Two measures are computed, differing in the treatment of stock options and stock awards. Both include salary, bonus, and long-term incentive payouts. The “granted compensation” measure includes the value of stock options and stock awards when they were granted. The “realized compensation” measure includes “stock options exercised” and “vested stock awards,” both of which capture the value realized beyond the value when options or stock awards are granted. Projected value for 2019 is based on the percent change in CEO pay in the samples available in June 2018 and in June 2019 (labeled first-half [FH] data) applied to the full-year 2018 value.

Source: Authors’ analysis of data from Compustat’s ExecuComp database, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Employment Statistics data series, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis NIPA tables.

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