Agenda calls it “a sheen of accountability.” We might say “a pretense of accountability” for these $100 million pay packages. We wish Agenda would include the names of the comp committee members in these stories.

The number of CEOs receiving awards worth more than $100 million has tripled in the last three years, according to data from ISS Corporate Solutions reported by Bloomberg. At the beginning of that time frame, in 2018, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was awarded what was then viewed as a gargantuan performance package that has so far amounted to about $33 billion in paper gains for the exec.

According to the report, that 2018 package has inspired a cadre of CEOs to ask their boards for similar “moonshot” awards. Last year, at least 15 execs were granted awards worth $100 million or more at companies including Apple, GoodRx Holdings, Oak Street Health, Opendoor Technologies, Palantir and Paycom Software.

At Paycom, for example, founder and CEO Chad Richison could receive a payout worth $2.8 billion if the company’s stock price rises more than fourfold over the next 10 years. Restoration Hardware CEO Gary Friedman will receive stock options worth $290 million if the stock price doubles, the report says.

Of course, with moonshot packages, payouts are tied to what are considered challenging goals, and there’s no guarantee the awards will be achieved. That gives the incentive plan a sheen of accountability.

Agenda – CEOs Rake in ‘Moonshot’ Money