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PE-Backed CEO Compensation: 2025 Benchmarks
What CEOs of private equity portfolio companies earn in base, bonus, and equity - from Vardis's 2025 survey of PE-backed CEOs worldwide.
By the Vardis team (John Hoagland, Josh King, Mark Mullen, and Christiane Doerner) · Updated June 2026
In short: In 2025, the average CEO of a private equity-backed company earned a base salary of about $488,000 and a bonus of about $295,000, plus an equity package worth more than $10 million at a base-case exit. Cash pay is driven by company size, not prior experience - from roughly $338,000 base at sub-$50M companies to $775,000 above $1B in revenue.
- Average 2025 pay: $488k base + $295k bonus.
- Base by company size: mean of $338k (under $50M) rising to $775k (over $1B).
- Target bonus: about 50% of base at smaller companies, 100%+ above $1B.
- Equity: average target payout tops $10M at a base-case exit; the CEO holds roughly 3.2% of the management pool.
- Experience: does not raise cash pay; company size does. CEOs with prior CEO experience do receive 13% larger equity grants.
Each year Vardis surveys CEOs of private equity-owned companies on compensation, governance, and the working relationship with their sponsors. The 2025 edition, fielded in August and September, captured responses from PE-backed CEOs across North America, Europe, and beyond. The picture: cash compensation is lucrative but largely flat, and equity remains the reason executives take the seat.
Base salary by company revenue
Company size is the dominant driver of CEO cash compensation. Prior CEO experience does not correlate to higher base pay - two CEOs running similarly sized companies are paid similarly, regardless of track record.
| Company revenue | Mean base | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| < $50M | $338k | $330k |
| $50M-$99M | $393k | $367k |
| $100M-$250M | $423k | $431k |
| $250M-$500M | $538k | $533k |
| $500M-$1B | $598k | $592k |
| > $1B | $775k | $790k |
Target bonus
Target annual bonus is expressed as a percentage of base and scales sharply with size - from roughly 50% of base at the smallest companies to 100%+ above $1B in revenue.
| Company revenue | Mean target | Median target |
|---|---|---|
| < $50M | 47% | 50% |
| $50M-$99M | 47% | 50% |
| $100M-$250M | 70% | 65% |
| $250M-$500M | 90% | 90% |
| $500M-$1B | 92% | 100% |
| > $1B | 103% | 100% |
Actual payouts tracked target closely in 2025: the largest group of CEOs (32%) received 91-110% of target.
Equity: the real upside
The lure of equity is still essential. The average respondent's target payout now tops $10 million at liquidity on base-case achievement - and scales dramatically with company size, from a mean near $5.5M at the smallest companies to $21.3M above $1B in revenue.
Equity structure
Profits interests (33%), stock options (26%), and phantom equity / appreciation rights (23%) lead, with sweet equity at 11%. Structure is highly geographic - 43% of CEOs outside North America are in sweet equity (discounted share) schemes.
How much do CEOs hold?
The CEO is named among the five largest equity holders in 100% of companies and typically holds the single largest allocation - a mean of about 3.2% of the management pool. CEOs with prior CEO experience receive equity grants about 13% larger than their peers - the one place experience visibly moves the numbers.
Who gets hired
Industry experience is the top hiring criterion: 45% of CEOs were recruited for specific industry expertise and another 24% were promoted from within. PE experience is secondary - only 31% cite prior PE experience as key to their hiring, and just 33% were experienced PE CEOs. Compensation and equity grants are the same regardless of prior experience.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a PE portfolio company CEO make?
In 2025, the average PE-backed CEO earned a base salary of $488,000 and a bonus of $295,000, plus an equity package worth more than $10 million at a base-case exit. Total cash and equity vary significantly with company size.
What base salary do PE-backed CEOs earn by company size?
Mean CEO base salary ranges from about $338,000 at companies under $50M in revenue, to $423,000 at $100M-$250M, $538,000 at $250M-$500M, and $775,000 above $1B in revenue.
What bonus do PE-backed CEOs receive?
Target bonus runs from roughly 50% of base at the smallest companies to over 100% above $1B in revenue. In 2025, the largest group of CEOs received 91-110% of their target bonus.
How much equity does a PE-backed CEO get?
The CEO is named among the five largest equity holders in essentially every management incentive plan and holds the largest single allocation - a mean of about 3.2% of the pool. The average CEO's equity is worth more than $10 million at a base-case exit, scaling to over $21 million at companies above $1B in revenue.
Does prior PE experience increase a CEO's pay?
Not for cash. Base salary and bonus are driven by company size, not by whether a CEO has run a PE-backed business before. The exception is equity: CEOs with prior CEO experience receive grants about 13% larger than their peers.
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Source: Vardis 2025 PE CEO Report. PE-backed CEOs surveyed August-September 2025. Pool-allocation figure from the Vardis Equity Participation Plans Report.