CEOs Bring in Big Bucks, Even More When a CFO is Hired after Them
It’s common knowledge that chief executive officers (CEOs) of companies are highly paid, but new research shows a certain phenomenon can bump that yearly salary up even higher—about 10% higher. New research in the INFORMS journal Management Science finds CEO compensation climbs if they appoint a chief financial officer (CFO) after them. The increased compensation is mostly concentrated in the early years of the newly hired CFO’s tenure and in components of compensation that vary with hitting analyst-based earnings targets. The work suggests that some finance chiefs might be pressured to tweak earnings to boost the stock price, and as a result, CEO compensation.