The $10M+ Club: CEO Pay Climbs Higher in Fashion

The corner office comes with its burdens — from consumer and supply chain worries to a delicate dance with employees and competitors — but the perks are good. 

While many chief executives have personal rides on company aircraft, car services and more built into their compensation, the most controversial and visible benefit is the multimillion-dollar pay package. 

A WWD study of executives at the top of the org chart in U.S. fashion, retail and beauty found 29 corporate CEOs and executive chairmen who received pay packages of more than $10 million in the most-recently reported fiscal year.

The numbers can be deceiving as the pay packages are often made up of stock or options awards that only pay out if the executives stay in place and shares of the company keep moving higher. 

So, while the highest-paid executive on the list, Coty Inc.’s CEO Sue Nabi, received a compensation package that was valued at $149.4 million, more than 97 percent of that came in the form of stock awards that vest through 2030. The big payout relies heavily on company performance. On a cash basis, Nabi took home a salary of $3.5 million. 

The number-two spot on the list went to G-III Apparel Group’s chairman and CEO Morris Goldfarb, who received a $31.4 million pay package that included $20.1 million in stock and option awards and $10.5 million in salary and incentive pay.  Goldfarb’s pay package, although big, represents a significant evolution. His compensation used to include the “contractual right to 6 percent of pre-tax income,” but the company said shareholders viewed the approach as “awarding too much cash compensation and were troubled that the awards were not capped.” In light of the change to his pay formula, Goldfarb received “a one-time performance-based inducement grant.”

That refinement shows how executive compensation can, over time, evolve. 

The Competition

The process of setting pay for top executives is motivated by retaining corporate talent and aligning their interests with those of shareholders. 

The often eye-popping numbers draw plenty of scrutiny from critics who say CEOs are paid too much relative to the workers who power companies, but they also confer bragging rights to CEOs who are used to having their careers and paychecks play out in the open. 

The people who rise to the top of multibillion-dollar corporations are already very motivated, and one way or another, have been very successful and been making good money for a long time. 

“They are also super competitive,” said Jannice Koors, senior managing director and head of consulting services at executive compensation consultancy Pearl Meyer. “That’s how they got to where they are — it’s almost like executive compensation is a bit of a competitive sport.”

And the competition keeps getting tougher as CEO packages move higher. 

“Part of the challenge that organizations find themselves in, that boards of directors find themselves in is, as the market increases, you kind of get caught up in that,” Koors said. 

“It’s no different than an accountant who walks into their boss’s office and says, ‘The accountant who sits next to me and the cube next to me gets paid more than I do. How come?’ The CEO’s numbers have more zeros behind them, but it’s the exact same argument.”

It is a powerful argument that’s helped along by the fact that, while investors have to approve allocations of stock for executive compensation, that kind of pay doesn’t hurt the company’s cash flow. 

“When I pay you a salary, when I pay you a cash bonus, that is real cash coming out of the company’s bank account,” Koors said. “When I give an executive a share of stock, it’s like payment in kind.”

The Different Flavors of Stock Awards

That payment comes in several different flavors, she said. They include restricted stock that is given to the executive as it vests, stock options that offer them an opportunity to buy shares at a certain price in the future, and performance shares that are tied to company metrics. 

In the official reckoning of CEO pay seen in company regulatory filings, the value of share-based compensation is based on where the company was trading at when the stock was granted. 

How much those shares end up being worth to CEOs is never reported and relies also on how the market overall performs, making the biggest portion of CEO pay also the hardest to read. 

The S&P 500 Benchmark

Amit Batish, senior director of content  and communications at Equilar, which tracks CEO pay at the companies in the S&P 500, said, “Our latest CEO pay study showed that median compensation jumped 12.6 percent to $16.3 million in 2023. Stock awards made up approximately 70 percent of total compensation in 2023.” 

By at least one measure, that put executive pay in line with how the company fared under a CEO’s leadership. 

“Among the executives in our recent study on S&P 500 CEO pay, the median total shareholder return at those companies was 13 percent, an indicator of strong financial performance,” Batish said. “In that sense, CEO pay plans are effective, but that’s ultimately up to the shareholders to decide.  Overall, competitive compensation will motivate CEOs to perform at a high level; however, that’s not always the case.”

The Status Quo

While CEO pay remains high and controversial, there seems little chance that the dynamic changes dramatically anytime soon. 

Shareholders weigh in each year with advisory votes and routinely sign off on even outsized pay packages by wide margins. 

In its most recent proxy statement last year, Coty detailed its executive pay packages and noted that shareholders have signed off on the company’s approach.

“We provided stockholders a ‘Say-on-Pay’ advisory vote on the compensation of our [named executive officers] in 2021,” Coty said. “At our 2022 annual meeting of stockholders, approximately 77.8 percent of the votes cast for approval of the ‘Say-on-Pay’ advisory vote. Our Say-on-Pay votes have averaged 87.8 percent support for the last nine years. We believe these results indicate that our shareholders are generally supportive of our compensation program.”

The Art and Science of CEO Pay

At the same time, there have been continuing refinements to the art and science that is CEO pay as boards try to bring in and keep the best talent and navigate a tough consumer environment under steady scrutiny.  

“One of the things investors want is at this level just pay to be highly variable,” said Matthew Vnuk, a partner at Compensation Advisory Partners. “You are seeing it be highly variable. What is the right starting point is a fair question.

“Boards believe that having the right person in the seat matters a lot to the outcome you achieve for your stakeholders,” Vnuk said. “So, ‘We have to be market competitive to have this person in place, but to achieve top of market pay or top quartile pay, we’ve got to be a top quartile performer.’”

The trick of linking up the two is in setting the right targets. 

“If the goals are not being set correctly, too easy or too hard, this doesn’t work,” Vnuk said. “So companies that get this right spend multiple meetings talking about goals, have enough time on the agenda to have a discussion versus just making an administrative item.” 

With the market changing, not just year-to-year, but day-by-day, the race for companies with consumers — and pay trends across the industry — is clearly on.

Ranking Power Pay

Executives leading top companies receive most of their compensation in the form of stock and option awards. And even though the realized value of that stock-based pay relies on company performance and other factors, executives are cushioned by often hefty salaries and incentive pay packages. Overall, most CEOs and executive chairmen saw their pay in the most-recent tally rise over the prior year. — EVAN CLARK & KATHRYN HOPKINS

1. Sue Nabi

Coty Inc., CEO

Total compensation: $149,429,486 +4,100%

Base salary: $3,549,000

Stock and option awards: $145,875,000

Bonus and incentive pay: $0

Net sales: $5.6 billion +5%

Fiscal year ended: 6/30/2023

2. Morris Goldfarb

G-III Apparel Group, chairman, CEO

Total compensation: $31,431,039 +442.8%

Base salary: $1,148,077

Stock and option awards: $20,709,998

Bonus and incentive pay: $9,384,000

Net revenues: $3 billion -4%

Fiscal year ended: 1/31/2024

3. John Donahoe

Nike, CEO

Total compensation: $29,184,701 -11%

Base salary: $1,557,692

Stock and option awards: $19,237,708

Bonus and incentive pay: $1,950,000

Net revenues: $51.4 billion +0.3%

Fiscal year ended: 5/31/2024

4. Doug McMillon

Walmart Inc., president, CEO

Total compensation: $26,968,924 +6.6%

Base salary: $1,505,769

Stock and option awards: $19,608,750

Bonus and incentive pay: $4,500,000

Net revenues: $643 billion +6.1%

Fiscal year ended: 1/31/2024

5. Ernie Herrman

TJX Cos. Inc., president, CEO

Total compensation: $22,222,769 +8.3%

Base salary: $1,732,695

Stock and option awards: $10,900,088

Bonus and incentive pay: $7,950,096

Company revenues: $54 billion +9%

Fiscal year ended: 2/3/2024

6. Fabrizio Freda

The Estée Lauder Cos., president, CEO

Total compensation: $21,811,244 -14.3%

Base salary: $2,100,000

Stock and option awards: $15,625,008

Bonus and incentive pay: $3,773,050

Other compensation: $313,186

Net sales: $15.91 billion -10%

Fiscal year ended: 6/30/2023

7. Jon R. Moeller

Procter & Gamble Co., president, CEO

Total compensation: $21,715,625 +22.6%

Base salary: $1,600,000

Stock and option awards: $14,997,563

Bonus and incentive pay: $4,712,000

Net sales: $82 billion +2%

Fiscal year ended: 6/30/2023

8. Thibaut Mongon

Kenvue Inc. (formerly Johnson & Johnson consumer health business), CEO

Total compensation: $19,722,593 

Base salary: $1,243,750

Stock and option awards: $14,932,319

Bonus and incentive pay: $3,518,750

Net sales: $15.44 billion +3.3%

Fiscal year ended: 12/31/2023

9. Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren Corp., executive chairman, chief creative officer

Total compensation: $19,720,137 +7.8%

Base salary: $1,750,000

Stock and option awards: $11,000,149

Bonus and incentive pay: $6,720,000

Net revenues: $6.6 billion +2.9%

Fiscal year ended: 3/30/2024

10. Brian Cornell

Target Corp., chair, CEO

Total compensation: $19,203,353 +8.7%

Base salary: $1,400,000

Stock and option awards: $14,720,515

Bonus and incentive pay: $2,613,800

Company revenues: $107 billion -1.6%

Fiscal year ended: 2/3/2024

11. Barbara Rentler

Ross Stores Inc., vice chair, CEO

Total compensation: $18,094,944 +59.6%

Base salary: $1,445,625

Stock and option awards: $10,700,095

Bonus and incentive pay: $5,800,000

Company revenues: $20 billion +9%

Fiscal year ended: 2/3/2024

12. Noel Wallace

Colgate-Palmolive Co., chairman, president, CEO

Total compensation: $17,121,584 +18.4%

Base salary: $1,475,000

Stock and option awards: $9,938,958

Bonus and incentive pay: $4,777,764

Other compensation: $929,862

Net sales: $19.46 billion +8.5%

Fiscal year ended: 12/31/2023

13. Jay Schottenstein

American Eagle Outfitters Inc., chairman, CEO

Total compensation: $16,793,219 +71.8%

Base salary: $1,817,308

Stock and option awards: $8,300,004

Bonus and incentive pay: $6,360,577

Company revenues: $5 billion +5.4%

Fiscal year ended: 2/3/2024

14. Patrice Louvet

Ralph Lauren Corp., president, CEO

Total compensation: $16,628,568 +14.9%

Base salary: $1,350,000

Stock and option awards: $10,651,323

Bonus and incentive pay: $4,536,000

Net revenues: $6.6 billion +2.9%

Fiscal year ended: 3/30/2024

15. Calvin McDonald

Lululemon Athletica Inc., CEO

Total compensation: $16,494,777 +5.3%

Base salary: $1,292,308

Stock and option awards: $9,999,948

Bonus and incentive pay: $5,169,231

Company revenues: $10 billion +18.6%

Fiscal year ended: 1/28/2024

16. Chip Bergh

Levi Strauss & Co., former chairman, CEO

Total compensation: $15,623,233 -1.5%

Base salary: $1,544,231

Stock and option awards: $11,949,250

Bonus and incentive pay: $1,741,215

Company revenues: $6 billion +0.2%

Fiscal year ended: 11/26/2023

17. Stefan Larsson

PVH Corp., CEO

Total compensation: $15,613,904 +28.6%

Base salary: $1,291,667

Stock and option awards: $11,101,772

Bonus and incentive pay: $2,784,080

Company revenues: $9 billion +2.1%

Fiscal year ended: 2/4/2024

18. Fran Horowitz

Abercrombie & Fitch Co., CEO

Total compensation: $15,035,354 +36.3%

Base salary: $1,401,923

Stock and option awards: $8,872,572

Bonus and incentive pay: $4,725,000

Company revenues: $4 billion +15.8%

Fiscal year ended: 2/3/2024

19. Richard Dickson

Gap Inc., president, CEO

Total compensation: $14,365,008

Base salary: $697,159

Stock and option awards: $11,542,892

Bonus and incentive pay: $1,802,511

Company revenues: $15 billion -4.7%

Fiscal year ended: 2/3/2024

20. Rosalind Brewer

Walgreens Boots Alliance, former CEO

Total compensation: $14,134,190 -18.2%

Base salary: $1,500,000

Stock and option awards: $10,639,786

Bonus and incentive pay: $0

Net sales: $139.1 billion +4.8%

Fiscal year ended: 8/31/2023

21. Michael Balmuth

Ross Stores Inc., executive chairman

Total compensation: $13,632,148 +14.1%

Base salary: $5,987,124

Stock and option awards: $3,500,092 

Bonus and incentive pay: $4,000,000

Company revenues: $20 billion +9%

Fiscal year ended: 2/3/2024

22. Bracken Darrell

VF Corp., president, CEO since July 17

Total compensation: $13,535,399

Base salary: $919,945

Stock and option awards: $12,476,564

Bonus and incentive pay: $0

Company revenues: $10 billion -10%

Fiscal year ended: 3/30/2024

23. Jeff Gennette

Macy’s Inc., former chairman, CEO

Total compensation: $11,821,259 +6.9%

Base salary: $1,425,000

Stock and option awards: $8,226,596

Bonus and incentive pay: $1,753,630

Company revenues: $24 billion -6.2%

Fiscal year ended: 2/3/2024

24. Linda Rendle

Clorox Co., CEO

Total compensation: $11,649,650 +36.5%

Base salary: $1,168,269

Stock and option awards: $6,999,700

Bonus and incentive pay: $3,122,606

Net sales: $7.39 billion +4%

Fiscal year ended: 6/30/2023

25. Carol Meyrowitz

TJX Cos. Inc., executive chairman

Total compensation: $11,387,171 million +10.2%

Base salary: $1,060,000

Stock and option awards: $5,000,062

Bonus and incentive pay: $4,041,970

Company revenues: $54 billion +9%

Fiscal year ended: 2/3/2024

26. Matthew T. Farrell

Church & Dwight Co. Inc., chairman, president, CEO

Total compensation: $11,182,166 +33.5%

Base salary: $1,183,975

Stock and option awards: $7,232,300

Bonus and incentive pay: $2,530,700

Net sales: $5.87 billion +9.2%

Fiscal year ended: 12/31/2023

27. Martin Waters

Victoria’s Secret & Co., CEO

Total compensation: $10,925,251 -12.7%

Base salary: $1,250,000

Stock and option awards: $8,851,198

Bonus and incentive pay: $788,738

Company revenues: $6 billion -2.6%

Fiscal year ended: 2/3/2024

28. John Idol

Capri Holdings, chairman, CEO

Total compensation: $10,536,629 -26.5%

Base salary: $1,350,000

Stock and option awards: $8,499,971  

Bonus and incentive pay: $540,000

Net revenues: $5.2 billion -8%

Fiscal year ended: 3/30/2024

29. Rod R. Little

Edgewell Personal Care, president, CEO

Total compensation: $10,157,128 +12.8%

Base salary: $1,095,833

Stock and option awards: $7,560,774

Bonus and incentive pay: $1,727,440

Net sales: $2.25 billion +3.7%

Fiscal year ended: 9/30/2023