Research Reports
Since its founding in 1973, FW Cook has published annual reports that offer in-depth analysis of executive compensation trends, providing trusted, data-driven insights to inform sound decision-making.
2026 Director Compensation Report
Research Report | By Daisy Laska, Stephanie Lane, Ted Simmons
FW Cook’s 2026 Director Compensation Report studies non-employee director compensation practices at 300 companies of various sizes and industries to analyze market practices in pay levels and program structure.
SEC Proposes Changes to Compensation Disclosures for Companies with a Public Float of Less than $2 Billion
By Dina Bernstein, Bindu Culas
On May 19, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed amendments intended to simplify the public company reporting framework and expand disclosure accommodations to a broader group of public companies. The proposal would modify filer categories, extend filing deadlines for certain smaller issuers, and make scaled disclosure provisions available to additional companies.
PE Pay Lessons
Article | By Michael Chavira, Austin Lee for Corporate Board Member
Michael Chavira, Managing Director and Austin Lee, Principal, collaborated with Corporate Board Member on, “PE Pay Lessons”, originally published on February 17, 2026 in the Q2 Issue of Corporate Board Member Magazine.
Retaining the C-Suite After CEO Turnover
Research Report | By Marco Pizzitola, Desmond Pang, Joe Sorrentino
Ensuring stability across the leadership team is an important factor in executing proper CEO succession, particularly as it applies to high-value individuals that may have been considered as CEO candidates themselves.
2025 Top 250 Report
Research Report | By Sarah Lindenberg Cohen, Tom Kohn, Rachel Chiu
The 53rd edition of the Top 250 Report explores executive long-term incentive practices at the 250 largest companies by market capitalization, with an emphasis on how prolonged 5-year market volatility and uncertainty has influenced and shaped plan design and structure.
2025 Top 250 Annual Incentive Plan Report
Research Report | By Warren Suh, Ezra Womark, Rachel Gibbons
FW Cook’s 2025 Annual Incentive Plan Report provides a comprehensive review of the annual incentive plans of the top 250 largest companies in the S&P 500 by market capitalization. This report examines trends in financial and non-financial metrics, goal-setting practices, and actual payouts, comparing findings over the past 3-year and 6-year periods.
2025 Executive Perquisites Report
Research Report | By Tyler Janney, Matt Dempsey, Jeanie Downs, Elaine Fouts, Jack Walsh, Alex Weinstock
FW Cook’s inaugural 2025 Executive Perquisites Report analyzes the prevalence and value of perquisites (or “perks”) at S&P 100 companies from 2021 to 2024, focusing on Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and average other Named Executive Officers (NEOs).
2025 Director Compensation Report
Research Report | By Eric Graves, Nico Braverman, Serdar Sikca, Steven Cross
FW Cook’s 2025 Director Compensation Report studies non-employee director compensation practices at 300 companies of various sizes and industries to analyze market practices in pay levels and program structure.
Global Top 250 Compensation Survey 2024
Research Report | By Marco Pizzitola, Stephen Hom, David Cole
This third edition of the Global Top 250 Compensation Survey presents information on compensation levels for the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, the design of long-term incentives, and share usage at the 250 largest listed companies globally.
2024 Top 250 Report
Research Report | By Lauren Shatanof, James Lutz, Voytek Sokolowski
FW Cook presents information on long-term incentives granted to executives at the 250 largest U.S. companies in the S&P 500 Index, with special focus on trends over the last five years.
2024 Aggregate Share-Based Compensation Report
Research Report | By Blake Davidson, Austin Lee
Our research focused on 300 companies spread across five industry groups and divided equally among small-, mid- and large-cap segments. Covering the three-year period from 2021 to 2023, the key findings of our 2024 aggregate share-based compensation study are as follows.
2024 Top 250 Annual Incentive Plan Report
Research Report | By Jose Furman, Ian Kim, Michael Kenney
FW Cook’s 2024 Annual Incentive Plan Report provides a comprehensive review of the annual incentive plans of the top 250 largest companies in the S&P 500 by market capitalization. Annual incentive plans are critical tools used to align executive compensation with a company’s short-term goals and support talent attraction, motivation and retention objectives.
Executive Compensation Data
With our in-house compensation data analytics, you benefit from the market’s most accurate and comprehensive data…