- There’s a stark disconnect between corporate financial performance and compensation for chief executives among a broad sample of 50 publicly traded companies with revenues over $1 billion, a new analysis shared with Fortune revealed. Year over year, median revenue growth collapsed from 3.7% to 1.6% and earnings per share growth dropped from 0.3 to basically zero among the 50 companies. In contrast, companies that granted significant boosts to bonus payouts saw a 280% increase on average and at companies where payouts were lower, bonuses were only down 45%, a new study from Compensation Advisory Partners shows.
Tyson Foods CEO Donnie King got a relatively paltry $436,000 bonus in 2023 but his payout roared to nearly $6 million in 2024 after the chicken-and-beef purveyor hit a key financial goal in its pay plan. In addition to the larger payout, the Tyson board took significant steps to keep King from jumping ship at the Fortune 500 company.
