Clicky

  • Login
  • Register
  • Submit Your Content
  • Contact Us
Friday, October 31, 2025
World Tribune
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Food
Submit
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Food
No Result
View All Result
World Tribune
No Result
View All Result

What happens when CEO pay becomes all or nothing

October 6, 2025
in Business
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
What happens when CEO pay becomes all or nothing
0
SHARES
ShareShareShareShareShare

What happens when CEO pay becomes all or nothing

Could staking your compensation on an all-or-nothing bet make you a better leader—or just a higher-stakes gambler? That question is resurfacing in boardrooms as “moonshot” pay packages gain traction among CEOs and boards seeking to inspire extraordinary performance and lock in ambitious talent, writes my colleague Amanda Gerut.

READ ALSO

Trump may have skipped APEC—but Xi’s using it to sell China as globalization’s last defender

An IBM exec’s playbook for rewiring big companies for speed, innovation

The concept, first thrust into the spotlight by Elon Musk’s 2018 Tesla deal, has reemerged in striking fashion through Rick Smith, CEO of Axon Enterprise, the maker of Taser stun guns and police body cameras. In 2018, Smith accepted an unconventional offer: no bonuses, no meaningful salary (just $31,000 a year), and no equity unless he could grow Axon’s market cap tenfold over the next decade. Each $1 billion increase unlocked a tranche of stock, with the ultimate goal of lifting the company’s value from $2.5 billion to $13.5 billion.

It was a daring bet, but one that paid off. Within five years, Smith doubled Axon’s value to over $13 billion and became the highest-paid CEO in America with $165 million in compensation. The stock surged more than 600%. 

Moonshot packages invert the standard logic of executive pay. Instead of the usual mix of salary, annual bonuses, and performance shares, they tie virtually all potential compensation to long-term milestones, often at seemingly impossible levels. Advocates argue that they strengthen alignment with shareholders, encourage long-term thinking, and inject urgency into the transformation process. Smith even extended a version of his plan to Axon employees, allowing them to trade portions of their pay for stock that vested alongside his. But the approach is not without controversy. The plans are highly volatile, difficult to calibrate, and often unpopular with investors wary of oversized payouts or asymmetric risk. Miss the mark, and the CEO gets nothing. Hit it too quickly, and shareholders may accuse boards of overpaying. 

Still, the model is spreading because, the rationale goes, extraordinary results demand extraordinary incentives, and in a market obsessed with innovation and valuation multiples, big bets may be the price of attracting and retaining elite talent.

Whether these moonshots create enduring value or prove to be flashes of fortune remains an open question. What’s clear is that they represent a new frontier in corporate risk-taking—one that fuses pay, purpose, and performance into a single, high-stakes wager on leadership itself.

Ruth Umoh
ruth.umoh@fortune.com

Smarter in seconds

Brand revival. Inside Ralph Lauren’s luxe reset—and the CEO who made it stick

Checkmate. How this gaming founder went from being child prodigy in a religious cult to building a chess empire

AI advantage. MasterClass founder says he’s saved an entire day of work thanks to a custom GPT

BOGO. These co-CEOs swear by splitting the job: ‘The demands on a modern CEO are close to unsustainable’

Leadership lesson

AlixPartners co-CEO Rob Hornby on splitting the corner office role: “We share responsibility for all outcomes for everything. But that doesn’t mean that we are equally involved in everything—because we have different expertise.”

News to know

A coalition of healthcare providers, religious groups, and university professors has filed the first lawsuit challenging Trump’s new $100,000 H-1B visa fee. Fortune

The CEO of Land O’Lakes is breaking ranks with corporate America by warning that mass deportations could cripple U.S. farms. Fortune

Washington is showing  little urgency to resolve the government shutdown, an impasse driven by both parties’ belief they hold the upper hand. NYT

North Korean spies posing as remote IT workers used AI-generated IDs to steal up to $1 billion for Kim Jong Un’s nuclear program. Fortune

With the job market weakening and inflation still high, Trump’s advisers are urging him to emphasize forecasts of a rebound early next year once his tax-and-spending plans take effect. Fortune

Israel and Hamas will begin mediated talks in Egypt on Monday to negotiate an end to their two-year conflict. Bloomberg

This is the web version of the Fortune Next to Lead newsletter, which offers strategies on how to make it to the corner office. Sign up for free.

Credit: Source link

ShareTweetSendSharePin
Previous Post

Carmaker issues fresh profit warning on tariff turmoil

Next Post

Meet the finance duo behind Dave’s Hot Chicken’s $1 billion deal as Gen Z flocks to the brand

Related Posts

Trump may have skipped APEC—but Xi’s using it to sell China as globalization’s last defender
Business

Trump may have skipped APEC—but Xi’s using it to sell China as globalization’s last defender

October 31, 2025
An IBM exec’s playbook for rewiring big companies for speed, innovation
Business

An IBM exec’s playbook for rewiring big companies for speed, innovation

October 31, 2025
Yesterday’s bloodbath in stocks was ‘the end of the cutting season,’ BofA says: Now we’re on alert for the ‘fail risks’ of 2025
Business

Yesterday’s bloodbath in stocks was ‘the end of the cutting season,’ BofA says: Now we’re on alert for the ‘fail risks’ of 2025

October 31, 2025
Michael Saylor’s Strategy returns to profitability in third quarter
Business

Michael Saylor’s Strategy returns to profitability in third quarter

October 31, 2025
AI bubble talk grips the market. But in the C-suite there’s more FOMO over AI’s benefits than fear of an AI bustup
Business

AI bubble talk grips the market. But in the C-suite there’s more FOMO over AI’s benefits than fear of an AI bustup

October 30, 2025
Goldman Sachs survey says only 11% of companies are actively linking layoffs to AI—but the real shock is yet to come
Business

Goldman Sachs survey says only 11% of companies are actively linking layoffs to AI—but the real shock is yet to come

October 30, 2025
Next Post
Meet the finance duo behind Dave’s Hot Chicken’s  billion deal as Gen Z flocks to the brand

Meet the finance duo behind Dave’s Hot Chicken’s $1 billion deal as Gen Z flocks to the brand

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What's New Here!

How the Louvre Jewelry Heist Unfolded

How the Louvre Jewelry Heist Unfolded

October 21, 2025
As national debt accelerates to  trillion, watchdog warns it’s ‘no way for a great nation like America to run its finances’

As national debt accelerates to $38 trillion, watchdog warns it’s ‘no way for a great nation like America to run its finances’

October 23, 2025
Get up to ,000 in FanCash for ‘TNF’

Get up to $2,000 in FanCash for ‘TNF’

October 22, 2025
LG Electronics India shares surge 50% on market debut after bumper IPO

LG Electronics India shares surge 50% on market debut after bumper IPO

October 14, 2025
AI bubble talk grips the market. But in the C-suite there’s more FOMO over AI’s benefits than fear of an AI bustup

AI bubble talk grips the market. But in the C-suite there’s more FOMO over AI’s benefits than fear of an AI bustup

October 30, 2025
Pick up this Baseus magnetic power bank while it’s down to

Pick up this Baseus magnetic power bank while it’s down to $36

October 23, 2025
Chauncey Billups, 30 more arrested in FBI NBA gambling case

Chauncey Billups, 30 more arrested in FBI NBA gambling case

October 24, 2025

About

World Tribune is an online news portal that shares the latest news on world, business, health, tech, sports, and related topics.

Follow us

Recent Posts

  • Trump may have skipped APEC—but Xi’s using it to sell China as globalization’s last defender
  • Today’s best iPad deals include the standard iPad with the A16 chip for $299
  • Dave Portnoy alleges Big Ten is keeping him from being on site as drama continues
  • An IBM exec’s playbook for rewiring big companies for speed, innovation

Newslatter

Loading
  • Submit Your Content
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • DMCA

© 2024 World Tribune - All Rights Reserved!

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Food

© 2024 World Tribune - All Rights Reserved!

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In