Arendt talks CEO compensation for Sunday Press-Gazette story

Green Bay Press-Gazette reporter Richard Ryman turned to Cofrin School of Business director Lucy Arendt for perspective on a Sunday (May 11) story about CEO compensation in Northeastern Wisconsin. Compensation was mostly flat in 2013, Ryman reported, due in part to the lingering effects of the recession. “With the economy still trying to improve,” Arendt said, “it shouldn’t be a surprise firms weren’t hitting their targets.” Company shareholders who head mutual funds and other investment institutions are paying closer attention to how much CEOs make, Arendt added. “They are the ones doing the analysis and looking at the total shareholder return,” she said. “People are pretty simple: ‘What am I getting?’ As long as shareholders perceive they are getting the returns they expect, they don’t really care how high the compensation is. They assume the compensation committee is doing its due diligence on market factors and what others might do to snatch this person away.” Full story.