Insights
Michael Chavira
Managing Director, Los Angeles, CA
Austin Lee
Principal, Houston, TX
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.
What public company boards need to know—and can learn from—private equity company compensation practices.
It’s no secret that private equity firms can offer executives the opportunity to participate in highly leveraged compensation arrangements that emphasize long-term ownership and/ or are tied to long-term value creation. While still far from the norm, private equity recruiting has become a more frequent topic of discussion for some public companies, particularly in energy and technology sectors, where leadership experience is in high demand. For compensation committees, this dynamic raises questions about retention, communication and how different compensation models align with different ownership structures and time horizons.
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Michael Chavira
Managing Director
Michael Chavira has over 25 years of executive compensation consulting experience. He joined the firm’s New York Office in 2001, and has worked out of the Los Angeles Office since 2003. Michael regularly advises Board Compensation Committees and executive management teams on executive and non-employee director pay in both public and private companies, covering small and large companies in a variety of industries. He has also worked on various corporate transactions such as initial public offerings, spin-offs, mergers, etc.
Austin Lee
Principal
Austin Lee joined the firm in 2014 and his primary responsibilities include conducting market analysis on executive pay levels, designing performance based annual and long-term incentive programs, and evaluating the relationship between executive pay and company performance. Previously, he worked at Occidental Petroleum in the trading and marketing department, with a focus on natural gas trading.
