A recent survey of 600 private companies showed that 72% pay an annual retainer to directors – and 54% pay a per-meeting fee. That’s according to an article from Private Company Director, which also notes these findings:
– The median annual retainer is $30,000 – but companies in the 90th percentile pay $90,000 and those in the 10th percentile pay $10,000
– More than two-thirds of the companies have a board chair. One-third of these board chairs are independent; the rest are insiders. Nearly a quarter (22%) of the survey respondents have a lead director. Over a third of the respondents offer an additional retainer to board chairs or lead directors (37%) and to committee chairs or members (35%). The median retainer for the chairman of the board or lead director is $20,000
– The median fee for committee chairs or members is between $5,000 and $6,000. Fees for service on the audit committee, which generally requires more work than the other committees, tends to be higher
– 12% don’t compensate any board members – unpaid boards tend to be smaller and made up of all insiders
– 45% of survey respondents who compensate for board service say they pay their inside directors
– The median board workload reported by survey respondents is about 55 hours, with a median four meetings per year. The median board committee workload is 20 hours per year, also involving four meetings
–Liz Dunshee, CompensationStandards.com, August 15, 2019
