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We are pleased to share our latest PE CEO Trends & Compensation Report. This year’s report was based on contact with over 1,200 CEOs leading private-equity-backed companies during August/September 2025. Where meaningful, we have categorized responses by revenue and other key factors. Below are some of the noteworthy trends:
CEO Profile and Recruitment: Industry-specific experience remains paramount, with two-thirds of CEOs recruited from within their sector, underscoring a preference for specialized industry knowledge over prior PE leadership. Additionally, with 60% of CEOs expecting a sponsor-to-sponsor liquidity event, we expect this may result in more Boards recruiting CEOs able to serve beyond their hold period or increase their focus on internal CEO succession.
Compensation Trends: CEO compensation remains lucrative, though largely flat for the past 30-36 months. Any gains are tied to variable, performance-based bonus where targets have inched upwards. We expect to see a 4-5% increase in compensation in next year’s report assuming a rebound in PE liquidity events which results in an influx of PE-experienced CEOs into the market.
Exit and Liquidity Trends: The first nine months of 2025 saw fewer PE exits on an annualized basis than any year since 2017. This is even more significant when considering that the number of PE-backed companies has more than doubled since 2017. As a result, the percentage of companies achieving liquidity events is 40% of the annual average since 2017.
Global Markets/Global Standards: We are struck by the lack of variability in compensation levels across different geographies, despite very different costs of living. The data suggest a premium of 10% for CEOs in the US compared to their global peers. Any real differences are typically due to the tax treatment of equity participation plans. As a result, more than half the CEOs outside of North America cite “Sweet Equity” as the basic structure of their equity participation plans compared to less than 10% in North America.
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