Jeff Bezos has been the CEO of Amazoncom Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) since 1996. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at other big companies. Next, we’ll consider growth that the business demonstrates. Third, we’ll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.
View our latest analysis for Amazon.com
How Does Jeff Bezos’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
At the time of writing our data says that Amazoncom Inc has a market cap of US$798b, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of US$1.7m. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations over US$8.0b and the median CEO compensation was US$11m.
Most shareholders would consider it a positive that Jeff Bezos takes less compensation than the CEOs of most other large companies, leaving more for shareholders. While this is a good thing, you’ll need to understand the business better before you can form an opinion.
You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Amazon.com, below.
Is Amazoncom Inc Growing?
On average over the last three years, Amazoncom Inc has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 71% each year. Its revenue is up 37% over last year.
Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. It’s great to see that revenue growth is strong, too. These metrics suggest the business is growing strongly.
You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.
Has Amazoncom Inc Been A Good Investment?
I think that the total shareholder return of 154%, over three years, would leave most Amazoncom Inc shareholders smiling. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO is paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.
In Summary…
It looks like Amazoncom Inc pays its CEO less than the average at large companies. Many would consider this to indicate that the pay is modest since the business is growing. And given most shareholders are probably very happy with recent returns, you might even think that Jeff Bezos deserves a raise!
It is relatively rare to see a modestly paid CEO when performance is so impressive. But it is even better if company insiders are also buying shares with their own money. So you may want to check if insiders are buying Amazoncom Inc shares with their own money (free access).
Or you might prefer examine intently this intuitive graph showing past earnings and revenue.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.