When Stephanie Ferris was promoted to chief executive officer of Fidelity National Information Services Inc. in 2022, she joined an exclusive club.
Ferris became one of the few female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.
Now that she’s had a full year running the Jacksonville-based financial technology company known as FIS, Ferris has joined another exclusive club: She’s one of the top paid CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.
Ferris received a total compensation package of $19.4 million in 2023, according to FIS’ annual proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission April 26.
As with most top executives of public companies, most of her compensation came from stock awards, which can change in value as the company’s stock price changes.
Ferris’ package included stock and option awards valued at almost $15.5 million, according to the proxy. Companies use complex formulas to estimate the value of stock awards for their annual reports on executive compensation.
Ferris’ compensation would rank her in the top 100 among all large company CEOs in the U.S. and the top 10 among female CEOs, according to a study released April 23 by consulting firm Equilar.
The study was based on proxies filed by March 31, before FIS filed its statement.
CEOs of most big companies benefited from the strong performance of the stock market last year, since so much of their compensation is made up of equity awards.
An analysis of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index released April 30 by consulting firm ISS-Corporate found the median base salary of CEOs rose 2.8% to $1.3 million last year. However, median stock awards rose 11.2% to $9.1 million and median stock option grants rose 9.5% to $3.1 million.
In a down year for the stock market in 2022, the median value of total compensation packages for CEO rose 3.1% but the total value rose 9.2% last year.
“Large company disclosures so far suggest a return to historical norms for U.S. CEO pay growth with the slower rate of growth evidenced last year likely looking to be an aberration,” said Roy Saliba, managing director at ISS-Corporate, in a news release.
The second-highest package among Jacksonville CEOs was awarded to another executive who joined a Fortune 500 company in 2022.
Joe Hinrichs of CSX Corp. received compensation of $14.1 million, which included about $10 million in stock and option awards, in his first full year on the job at the railroad company.
Two other CEOs in Jacksonville received eight-figure pay packages in 2023: Patrick Zalupski of Dream Finders Homes Inc. received $11.4 million and Anthony Jabbour of Dun & Bradstreet Holdings Inc. received $11.3 million.
Zalupski was granted more stock awards last year but Jabbour’s compensation dropped significantly from $29.2 million in 2022.
Jabbour’s 2023 package included stock valued at $10 million but in 2022, he received stock and option awards totaling more than $28 million.
This table shows the total value of fiscal 2023 compensation packages of chief executive officers of public companies based in the Jacksonville area, and the change from 2022.
The total compensation includes the estimated value of stock awards and stock options granted.
The value of stock compensation can change based on the market price of the company’s stock, so public companies use complex formulas to come up with an estimated value that is reported on their annual proxy statements.
The chart also shows the base salary each CEO was paid in fiscal 2023 and the total of cash incentive payments, which are generally tied to meeting performance targets. You can download a PDF of this chart here
