Small-Cap CEOs: Lower Pay, Fewer Bonuses in ’09

The final chapter in Equilar’s cap-size CEO trilogy is out, and it looks like the CEOs of the smallest companies have taken some of the biggest hits. The S&P 600 is the only one of the three groups where bonuses were down in ’09– though median bonus value rose 3.3% for those who got bonuses, over 25% didn’t get any bonus, a 6.6% increase from 2008. Like the S&P 500, total pay is also down for the small-cap CEOs (the S&P 400 rose slightly), by 5.4%.

There’s also the question of stock: compared to their large- and mid-cap peers, small-cap CEOs are less likely to have options and more likely to have restricted stock. The share of their earnings that came in cash also shot up 8% between 2008 and 2009.

Ironically, the small-cap companies seem to be most enthusiastic about implementing the type of strictures to which the government would like to bring their big brothers around. In addition to the increased likelihood of restricted stock, bonuses correlate very strongly with performance for this group, with the top-performing quartile of companies raising CEO bonuses 71.1% and the bottom quartile docking them 32.6%.

You can get more information by requesting the full report here. If you’re interested in the S&P 500 and 400, go here and here.