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The New York Times Top-Paid CEO Study Featuring Equilar Data
The New York Times recently released its annual study of the 100 highest-paid CEOs of U.S. publicly-traded companies using data provided exclusively by Equilar.
Over the past seven years, Equilar has been the preferred data provider to The Times for executive compensation information. As part of this collaboration, Equilar provides data on compensation, professional history, and wealth events for executives of publicly-traded companies. Additional information on executive connections, board service, and wealth data can be found in Equilar Atlas, an executive networking tool with profiles of more than 360,000 executives worldwide.
View the complete list of 100 top-paid CEOs
| Top 5 Highest-Paid* CEOs of 2012 | |||
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No. 1 | Lawrence J. Ellison | $96.1M |
| Oracle | 24% ↑ | ||
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No. 2 | Richard M. Bracken | $38.5M |
| HCA | n/a | ||
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No. 3 | Robert A. Iger | $37.1M |
| Walt Disney | 18% ↑ | ||
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No. 4 | Mark G. Parker | $35.2M |
| Nike | 219% ↑ | ||
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No. 5 | Philippe P. Dauman | $33.4M |
| Viacom | 22% ↓ | ||
| *CEO pay includes base salary, stock and options awards, cash bonus, perks, and other incentives | |||
Top-Paid CEOs of 2012
The New York Times article points out that after two years of Say on Pay, median compensation still climbed by three percent among the top-paid chief executives last year. Rounding out the top three CEOs were Larry Ellison of Oracle, Richard Bracken of HCA, and Robert Iger of Walt Disney. Mark Parker of Nike is number four on the list with a pay increase of 219 percent in 2012.Key Findings – Behind the Scenes
Equilar’s executive data reveals several interesting findings:
- The Technology industry had the largest number of CEOs on the list, while Healthcare had the fewest.
- Roughly 40 percent of compensation was given in stock, including time- and performance-based awards, while 38 percent was paid in cash, and 16 percent through option awards.
- Technology CEOs received most of their pay in equity, with 74 percent of their compensation packages received in either options or stock units. The Industrial Goods sector paid out 51 percent of compensation in cash.
Methodology
To measure CEO compensation, The New York Times commissioned Equilar to compile and analyze pay data from corporate filings. The data set includes information for the 100 highest-paid chief executives at publicly-traded companies. To be included in the Equilar study, a company must be incorporated in the United States and must have filed a definitive proxy statement by March 29, 2013.
For each executive, total compensation is calculated as the sum of base salary, discretionary and performance-based cash bonuses, the grant date value of stock and option awards, and other compensation. Other compensation typically includes benefits and perquisites. All data is taken from the Summary Compensation Table provided in each company’s proxy statement.
If grant date values are not provided for option awards, Equilar’s research team calculated the value of stock option grants using the widely-accepted Black-Scholes methodology and the company’s own option valuation assumptions.
Grant-date values represent the estimated value of new stock and option awards. Although companies disclose grant-date values for these awards, there is no guarantee that executives will realize these amounts. They may earn more or less depending on stock price changes.
In the analysis, Equilar’s research team considered equity awards in the fiscal year they were granted. In some cases, especially in the financial sector, companies grant equity awards at the beginning of each fiscal year based on performance in the previous fiscal year. As such, the equity awards granted in a fiscal year should not be viewed as indicative of corporate performance in that same year.
Percentage change in pay for each executive is calculated using compensation data from the previous fiscal year. For some CEOs, specifically new hires or the newly-promoted, change in pay is listed as “n/a.”
About Equilar
Equilar is the leading provider of executive compensation and corporate governance data to corporations, nonprofits, consulting firms, institutional investors, and the media. Using its extensive database, Equilar allows clients to accurately benchmark and track executive and board compensation, equity grants, award policies, and compensation practices. Equilar’s C-Suite mapping technology also reveals business networking opportunities by identifying pathways to executives and board members at companies of interest. Equilar’s research has been consistently cited by Bloomberg, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other leading media outlets.