Board Leaders See Pay Hikes

Directors are approving pay raises for board leaders as investor scrutiny intensifies and as competition for new board members and leadership talent grows fiercer.

Dozens of Russell 1000 companies opted to increase premiums paid to non-executive board chairs and lead directors in the past year, some even doubling retainers, according to pay data from public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ. For example, Annaly Capital Management, CrowdStrike Holdings, DocuSign, Elanco Animal Health, Equifax, Grocery Outlet Holding, MDU Resources, Moderna, Polaris, Sprouts Farmers Markets and others granted significant increases to non-executive chairs, in some cases doubling or even tripling the premiums paid in fiscal 2022. In addition, Carlyle Group, Corning, First Horizon, NCR and others granted pay hikes to lead independent directors, some close to two times greater than the year before.

According to the National Association of Corporate Directors’ most recent director compensation report, median pay increased by 4% for both non-executive board chairs and lead directors in this year’s study compared to last year’s report. In contrast, last year’s study found a median year-over-year increase of 3% for non-executive chairs, while median lead director pay was flat.