Chief Executive Group's CEO & Senior Executive Compensation Report for Private Companies Finds the Average CEO's Compensation Is Far Lower Than Mainstream Media Portrayals

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Oct 03, 2012, 08:30 ET

GREENWICH, Conn., Oct. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- New research by Chief Executive Group debunks the myth that most CEOs enjoy excessive pay packages. According to the CEO & Senior Executive Compensation Report for Private Companies 2012-2013, the median compensation package for CEOs of private companies is currently $362,900, not the $9.6 million average CEO compensation figure that is mistakenly repeated by most media outlets.

Of the roughly 30 million businesses in the United States, fewer than 6,000 are publicly traded and only the largest 8% of these public companies make it into the S&P 500. Despite this reality, most media outlets repeat the $9.6 million average annual pay package statistic for CEOs of S&P 500 companies in 2011 and mistakenly assume that this 0.002% of companies is representative of all CEOs.

Median compensation for private company CEOs is up 1.9% from 2010's $356,133, less than the rate of inflation (3.2% in 2011), and far less than the rate of growth of public company CEO compensation packages.

Chief Executive Group's research found that, in contrast to media portrayals, for the vast majority of companies, CEO compensation is positively correlated with a company's size and complexity (in terms of revenue and number of employees) as well as operating performance (e.g., revenue growth and profitability). While larger and more profitable companies, on average, offer more attractive executive compensation packages, the rate of increase is not as steep as many would expect and there are key size thresholds. There are also large differences by industry and type of ownership (e.g., private equity, venture capital, family, sole proprietor or partnership) that are highlighted in the report.

For more information about the CEO & Senior Executive Compensation Report for Private Companies 2012-2013, which includes benchmarking data by quartile on base salaries, bonuses, benefits, perks and equity compensation for CEOs and 9 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/CEOcompensation.

Contact: Wayne Cooper, 203-930-2703

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SOURCE Chief Executive Group