Zayla Partners

The Zayla Team recently updated its analysis evaluating CEO compensation at companies in the Dallas Fort-Worth metropolitan area. Some interesting takeaways: 1. The company with the highest market valuation (as of 12/31/2023) was ranked #20 in CEO pay for the year 2. The highest paid CEO in the country for FY2023 came from the DFW area 😲 Check out the more from our analysis: https://lnkd.in/gsre-Df7

The Zayla Team recently updated our analysis on CEO pay in the Houston metro. We noted that median CEO pay rose 4.7% from our last study. Check out more CEO pay details from 155 public companies in the area. #ceo #compesation #houston

Zayla conducted an analysis of new E&P compensation disclosures from the 2024 proxy season to identify CEO compensation trends of interest. Our research found a median increase in total direct compensation of 6% in FY2023 at the 21 largest public E&P companies, substantially lower than increases noted in other general industry studies. At the same time, these companies generated nearly $2B more EBITDA at the median than the S&P 500. Check our article for more data and analysis providing an in depth look at total compensation, incentive payouts and incentive plan design. #oilandgas #energy #ceocompensation https://lnkd.in/gsW_SS6G

This Thursday, (6/13) #Tesla will hold its Annual Stockholders’ Meeting, which will include the much-discussed ratification vote related to Elon Musk’s landmark 2018 compensation arrangement that provided the opportunity to earn a significant amount of equity if a series of aspirational performance goals were achieved. Those goals were met over subsequent years, but the incentive was challenged in court which resulted in the incentive being thrown out by the judge.   Speculation is likely to escalate leading up to the day of the vote, as various voices – institutional investors, large individual investors and media alike – chime in with their views of what should occur with the vote. The team at Zayla is curious what you believe should happen. Feel free to share your thoughts below:

Thank you WorldatWork for asking us to speak at "Total Rewards 24" in Cincy this week! You put on a 1st class conference. Shoutout to Sue Holloway, a great friend and amazing backbone to WorldatWork for the past 22 years! Sign up for our monthly newsletter (https://lnkd.in/g3gBBRQU) to get deeper stats and analysis on our "Executive Compensation: Secrets of Top Performing Companies" research we presented. #totalrewards24 #cincinnati

The Zayla team had its annual strategy meeting this last Thursday. Getting together with the whole team is one of our favorite things to do. We are excited about what the future holds! We also welcome our newest Principal, Robert "Kyle" Lamport, CCC, CAC. Kyle comes to us with 10 years of experience in the executive compensation space. We are excited for what Kyle brings in experience and character!

Don't miss the opportunity for insights on Compensation and Benefits across the biggest survey (60 ) of E&P operators! Not only does the ECI survey give perspective on benefits (a true Total Rewards strategy) but it also provides a revamped approach on LTI with actionable insights for participants on a tricky pay element. Survey closes for participation on May 17th. https://lnkd.in/gZqwrqZh

Proxy seasons always offer new intrigue for those of us interested in the world of corporate governance.  2024's iteration has an early interesting case study and conclusion - one  which we uncovered in a recent analysis. A publicly-traded company in the US that has an earlier filing and annual meeting timing found itself facing a split in recommended vote from the two major proxy advisory firms – ISS and Glass Lewis – on their Say on Pay shareholder proposal. In its efforts to respond to the negative vote recommendation and further inform shareholders on the merits of their pay program, the company ran some analysis concluding that total assets have a higher correlation to compensation levels than revenue and should be relied upon more as a key metric in evaluating their pay program. See the filing with analysis here (https://lnkd.in/gFe4TgHy). Side note, we drew the same conclusion in our 2023 analysis of the top 1,500 public companies (https://lnkd.in/gBrUF9fC). Ultimately, their efforts were unsuccessful as they had other SOP concerns, and they did not receive majority support from shareholders. In an otherwise tame Say on Pay proxy season (so far), we found this situation and analysis particularly interesting and wanted to share with our audience. Let us know if you have any thoughts or questions on this!

The team at Zayla Partners recently conducted a landmark analysis for an upcoming presentation at WorldatWork Total Rewards '24 Conference. We analyzed pay practices at the 50 Best Companies (Top Total Shareholder Return, Most Admired, Best Places to Work, Fastest Growing, Successful Small Caps etc.) VS. the 50 Worst Performing Companies. One not-so-shocking result is the Best Companies have a compensation vision. They are 122% more likely to have a stated compensation philosophy and they are more than twice as likely to target pay above the market median in incentive compensation.

Thanks for the participation in our 3 day Non-Compete Ban poll. The results are in: 60% of business owners, senior management and employees who participated believe the ban will be good for business. While states and companies are planning to argue this ban in the courts, the popular opinion may sway the final outcome. It’s worth noting this ban should not have any impact on non-solicitations, business sale non-competes or existing non-competes with executives. Stay tuned.