80% of Respondents Expect Bonuses Next Year vs. Only 45% for 2009
Is optimism returning among corporate leaders? Better times are coming, according to a recent poll of chief executives. Expectations for 2010 compensation reflect an upbeat outlook on business performance and resultant pay packages.
Executive salary and bonus plans remain a hot topic if the response to ExpertCEO’s Fall CEO Salary Survey is any indication, with more than 150 members participating. Poll highlights include the following observations:
- CEOs are upbeat about overall 2010 pay prospects (and, implicitly, operating results), anticipating a bounce of nearly 7% in 2010 total compensation vs. 2009 levels, to an average of $340,000.
- About 80% of members expect to receive a 2010 bonus; the average expected amount is $105,000, up from $92,000 in 2009 and $100,000 in 2008.
- Pressure on bonuses reduced average anticipated 2009 take-home pay from 2008 levels for the CEOs surveyed; 55% of respondents expect to receive NO bonus.
- Though average 2009 salaries are roughly flat with 2008 (about $228,000), total compensation is estimated to drop to $319,000 from $332,000 in 2008.
- Technology and Media/Internet CEOs, 67% of the survey population, expect total compensation of $306,000 in 2009 with a projected 8% increase to $331,000 in 2010.
- CEOs who head companies with revenues under $1MM have compensation packages heavily weighted towards equity, rather than cash, as anticipated. 70% of these individuals expect no bonus in 2009; their average equity ownership is 40%, compared with the median ownership of 8% for the entire survey population.
- Trends from the Feb ’09 ExpertCEO survey held steady. The larger a company’s revenue base, the larger the CEO’s salary and bonus–and the more likely he or she will receive a bonus. CEOs who manage companies with more than $50 million in revenue reported average salaries of $313,000, compared with $162,000 cited by CEOs heading firms with less than $1MM in sales.
