S&P 500 Companies with Overpaid CEOs Underperformed the Benchmark by Nearly 3 Percentage Points; 10 Most Overpaid CEOs Underperform by a Gaping 10.5 Percentage Points, According to New As You Sow Report
OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Overpaid CEOs appear to be a fundamental leading indicator of future corporate risk and lagging shareholder return, according to the third annual "100 Most Overpaid CEOs: Are Fund Managers Asleep at the Wheel?" report from As You Sow. In addition to announcing the new list, As You Sow examined how the companies in the inaugural overpaid list have performed financially over the past three years. When taken in aggregate, the 100 S&P 500 companies with the most overpaid CEOs underperformed the index by 2.9 percentage points, while the ten companies with the most egregiously overpaid CEOs underperformed by 10.5 percentage points, destroying shareholder value with a negative 5.7% return.
The report cites Leslie Moonves/CBS Corporation, Marc Benioff/Salesforce, David Zaslav/Discovery Communications Inc., Lloyd Blankfein/Goldman Sachs, and Marissa Mayer/Yahoo as being among the 25 most overpaid CEOs. Of these 25, 14 made the list for the second year in a row. The new report with the complete list is available online at www.asyousow.org/ceopay.
Leading mutual funds including Goldman Sachs, Blackrock, and Fidelity continue to "rubberstamp" excessive compensation for CEOs. Large pension funds are voting against packages more than they have in the past, including The State of Wisconsin Investment board that voted against 73% of the pay proposals on the list, up from 37% last year.
The report concludes: "Beyond the web of cronyism amongst those responsible for deciding and approving pay packages, this report shows that there is little alignment between pay and performance. Overall, these practices promote an unsustainable system."
Lead author Rosanna Landis Weaver of As You Sow, said: "It appears that companies with overpaid CEOs fell behind their competitors, and this has negative implications for everyone involved. Shareholders, especially those with fiduciary responsibilities, need to continue to heavily scrutinize executive pay packages and exercise their right to vote with authority."
As You Sow is a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies. For more information, visit www.asyousow.org/ceopay.
CONTACT: Taraneh Arhamsadr, (510) 735-8157 or [email protected].
SOURCE As You Sow
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