The Big Picture: Payout doesn’t always line up with performance
In 2025, only a fraction of company executives’ total compensation came from their salary, while most of their payout was from performance incentives. The idea behind these incentives is that if a company does well financially, so do the executives.
So are the executives receiving millions in compensation also seeing their companies boom? We used Quiver Quantitative’s new executive compensation data, paired with stock returns for 2025, and found that there is almost no correlation between the % return and total compensation for executives.
→ Was there a correlation between stock returns and total executive compensation in 2025?
A correlation test reveals there is a nearly negligible linear relationship between a company’s total 2025 compensation and 2025 return. While the slope between stock return and total compensation is slightly positive, the high p-value (0.19) indicates an unreliable, insignificant relationship between the variables.
Overall, the data shows that an increase in a company’s 2025 compensation does not necessarily reflect an increase in stock returns.
Here are a few examples of some of the companies with the highest executive comp in 2025, and their respective stock performances:
Intel Corp (INTC)Total 2025 Executive Compensation: $183 million
2025 stock performance (1 Y): +247.91%
Intel Corp., which might sound familiar from its widely used semiconductor chip, supplies technology to most computer producers. Over the past year, the tech company has seen a substantial return on its stock, boasting an over
INTC stock performance since 2024
2025 saw the company’s stock prices hit their lowest levels in recent years, but they surged back towards new peaks. Simultaneously, Intel’s CEO Lip-Bu Tan made over $90 million and landed a spot among the top compensated executives for 2025.
Lip-Bu Tan’s compensation is largely tied to long-term, performance-based incentives, meaning one year won’t necessarily impact what the CEO pockets. But if the Bears are right, the company would need to outpace emerging competition in order to see high performance and high rewards moving forward.
Welltower Inc. (WELL)Total 2025 Executive Compensation: $1.4 billion
2025 stock performance (1 Y): +43.3%
Of the top 10 highest compensated executives from 2025, Welltower’s name popped up five times. The real estate investment trust’s CEO, CIO, CFO, COO, and CLO took home a combined $1.4 billion; only a fraction of the top execs ’ total compensation came from their salaries.
And Welltower’s stock performance reflects the exec’s payout, with stocks rising significantly in the past few years. Over the past year, the company has seen a generous return at
Welltower’s stock price Jan 2023-present
Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV)Total 2025 Executive Compensation: $185 million
2025 stock performance (1 Y): -23.2%
Over the past two years, Veeva Systems stock has not been the most stable, with stock prices peaking in Fall 2025 at over $300 and now plummeting to less than half that. Overall this past year, the company’s return on stocks has seen
Accelerant Holdings (ARX)Total 2025 Executive Compensation: $81.4 million
2025 stock performance (1 Y): -48.18%
Over the past year, Accelerant Holdings (ARX) has seen more than a
While not necessarily significant on its own, the large amount of net negative shares purchased in addition to the negative return on stocks over the past year supports a bearish narrative over concerns regarding Accelerant’s market confidence.
But despite concerns, CEO Jeff Radke still raked in over $80 million in 2025. While Radke’s stock/option awards decreased about 14% from the previous year, his total compensation grew 2.52K%.
Broadcom Inc.’s success brings big returns for Hock E. Tan
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) has recently announced expanded partnerships with tech and AI giants, like OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Alphabet (Google Cloud). And the company’s 2025 performance certainly mirrors this success; over this past year, the company’s return on stocks has soared to nearly 200%.
Meanwhile, Hock E. Tan was one of the highest paid exec’s from this year, with the majority of his total compensation coming from stock/option awards — not surprising when you consider the company’s extremely successful stock performance.
