The CFO post is the least stable in the C-suite, but its pay is rising the fastest.
Those are among a smorgasbord of findings in a new report from FP&A platform provider Datarails called CFO and the C-Suite 2026. The report pulls information from the proxy filings of 1,991 U.S. public companies from 2020 through 2025, reflecting data from fiscal years 2019 through 2024.
Over the six years, the average tenure of a finance chief was 2.12 years, lower than those for the CEO (2.83 years), chief operating officer (2.56 years) and chief technology officer (2.49 years). Just over 60% of the companies experienced at least one CFO change over the six years.
However, median total annual compensation for CFOs inflated the most percentage-wise, by 61.8% between 2019 and 2024, going from $2.39 million to $3.86 million. CEOs were right behind them, with total pay swelling 59.9%, reaching $8.40 million.
“The CFO role, long considered the conservative counterweight to a CEO’s ambition, is increasingly being compensated as a bet on the company’s future rather than simply a reward for managing the present,” Datarails wrote.
The numbers portray one side of a widening pay gap. Average hourly earnings for U.S. workers rose by just 25.8% over the same time period, from $28.38 to $35.69.
While CFOs are getting bigger raises, they remain far behind their bosses in total compensation. Across the six years, disclosed compensation for seven tracked roles (CEO, CFO, COO, chief marketing officer, chief information officer, general counsel and chief human resources officer) totaled $122.3 billion. Of that, CEOs pulled in 62.2%, compared to just 24.7% for CFOs.
CFOs at the top 500 companies by market capitalization were paid a median of $6 million in 2024, up 36.4% from 2019. The rest of the finance chiefs in the study group of companies pulled in fewer bucks ($2.70 million in 2024) but have gotten fatter raises (52.3% growth since 2019).
The high end of the earnings CFO curve was indeed high in 2024: Tesla’s Vaibhav Taneja pocketed $139.5 million, although $113.5 million was in the form of options.
Finance chiefs at big technology companies dominated the list of top 20 earners, with Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Cisco Systems, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Netflix and Workday also represented.
The study also revealed that the proportion of women CFOs reached 17.6% in 2024, up from 12.6% in 2019. However, the 2024 tally was actually a pullback from the prior year’s 18.5%.
Five female CFOs were on the top 20 most compensated list: Axon’s Brittany Bagley, Alphabet’s Anat Ashkenazi, Microsoft’s Amy Hood, Meta’s Susan Li and TransDigm’s Sarah Wynne.
