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Benefits August 5, 2002
Venture Cap CEOs Pay Crimped
August 5, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Pay raises have
been harder to come by this year, even for venture capital
CEOs, according to a new survey.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
According to VentureOne, the median base pay for CEOs of venture-backed companies increased to $200,000 in the first half of 2002, up from $190,000 during the same period the previous year. Vice president and director-level positions saw similar increases.
Bonuses for vice presidents and directors at venture-backed companies fell. Bonus amounts for VPs showed the greatest decrease in dollar terms, from a median of $32,450 to $25,000.
Indeed, the percentage of venture-backed companies offering bonuses to employees has declined considerably since the first half of 2001.
Not surprisingly, the drop is especially evident in the regions most affected by the dot-com boom and bust. In Northern California, for example, the percentage of companies offering bonuses fell from 73% in 2001 to just 37% in 2002.
The one area where salaries headed was with health care companies — In keeping with the growing allocation of venture investment dollars to healthcare. In fact, salaries for healthcare executives increased at every level. For instance, CEOs at venture-backed healthcare companies earned a median salary of $215,000, up from $200,000 last year.
Information technology companies accounted for 50% of the VentureOne sample, while 26% were in the health care sector, and 22% were products and services companies.