Key Insights

• Intercontinental Exchange will host its Annual General Meeting on 17th of May
• Total pay for CEO Jeff Sprecher includes US$1.25m salary
• The total compensation is 63% higher than the average for the industry
• Intercontinental Exchange's total shareholder return over the past three years was 23% while its EPS grew by 4.8% over the past three years

CEO Jeff Sprecher has done a decent job of delivering relatively good performance at Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) recently. In light of this performance, CEO compensation will probably not be the main focus for shareholders as they go into the AGM on 17th of May. However, some shareholders may still be hesitant of being overly generous with CEO compensation.

Comparing Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.'s CEO Compensation With The Industry

Our data indicates that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$77b, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as US$28m for the year to December 2023. Notably, that's an increase of 65% over the year before. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at US$1.3m.

On comparing similar companies in the American Capital Markets industry with market capitalizations above US$8.0b, we found that the median total CEO compensation was US$17m. This suggests that Jeff Sprecher is paid more than the median for the industry. Furthermore, Jeff Sprecher directly owns US$516m worth of shares in the company, implying that they are deeply invested in the company's success.

On an industry level, roughly 9% of total compensation represents salary and 91% is other remuneration. Intercontinental Exchange has chosen to walk a path less trodden, opting to compensate its CEO with less of a traditional salary and more non-salary rewards over the last year. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance.

A Look at Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.'s Growth Numbers

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.'s earnings per share (EPS) grew 4.8% per year over the last three years. It achieved revenue growth of 15% over the last year.

We think the revenue growth is good. And the improvement in EPSis modest but respectable. Although we'll stop short of calling the stock a top performer, we think the company has potential. Historical performance can sometimes be a good indicator on what's coming up next but if you want to peer into the company's future you might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. Been A Good Investment?

With a total shareholder return of 23% over three years, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. shareholders would, in general, be reasonably content. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median.

In Summary...

Intercontinental Exchange primarily uses non-salary benefits to reward its CEO. Given that the company's overall performance has been reasonable, the CEO remuneration policy might not be shareholders' central point of focus in the upcoming AGM. However, if the board proposes to increase the compensation, some shareholders might have questions given that the CEO is already being paid higher than the industry.

We can learn a lot about a company by studying its CEO compensation trends, along with looking at other aspects of the business. We identified 2 warning signs for Intercontinental Exchange (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Important note: Intercontinental Exchange is an exciting stock, but we understand investors may be looking for an unencumbered balance sheet and blockbuster returns. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.