LONDON, Sept. 4 — Shareholder rebellions over executive pay eased across most of the world’s biggest stock markets in 2026, even as average CEO compensation at S&P 500 companies hit a record high. The data, compiled by shareholder advisory firm Georgeson Advisory and published by Reuters on Sept. 1, shows opposition falling in Europe, the United States and Japan, despite a handful of high-profile revolts. The mechanics here matter.
In Europe, where investors vote on payouts for the prior year, contested pay reports fell almost 6 percentage points year-on-year to 25.2% — the lowest average level since at least 2018. A contested vote is defined as one drawing at least 10% shareholder opposition.
Opposition to future remuneration policies also declined, to 36.6% from 37.9%, led by the Netherlands, where opposition fell to 10.5% from 25%. But the picture is not uniformly calm. Belgium and Germany were the exceptions, with contested votes in Germany jumping to 88.9% from 47.6%.
British medical technology company Smith & Nephew and German potash company K+S both saw pay policies opposed by more than 40% of votes cast.
US support creeps up, failures inch higher
Across the Atlantic, average support for “Say on Pay” votes in the S&P 500 rose to 90.4% from 89.7%. The catch: the share of “failed” votes — those with less than 50% support — inched higher to 1.4% from 1.2%. Rajeev Kumar, senior managing director at Georgeson, attributed the modest increase in US support to stronger corporate performance and a favorable market environment.
The record CEO pay levels, even excluding a bumper compensation plan for Elon Musk, come against a backdrop of regulatory pressure. The Trump administration has pushed to rein in proxy advisory firms and curb shareholder activism, a move that may be reshaping how investors engage.
Fragmentation ahead
Japan also saw a decline: 11 of 126 director compensation resolutions by Nikkei 225 companies during the 2026 AGM season were contested, or 8.7%, down from 16 instances, or 12.4%, in 2025. Cas Sydorowitz, head of Georgeson Advisory, said the result is a more fragmented environment with less predictable voting outcomes.
Sarah Wilson of Minerva Analytics noted that investors in the UK and Europe remained more skeptical of proposed remuneration policies than of remuneration outcomes — a distinction that suggests the fight over pay is shifting from how much executives earned to what they might earn next. The report also cites shifts in shareholder voting behavior, including efforts by some asset managers to hand more decisions back to end-investors.
Follow the money: as proxy advisors face political headwinds and asset managers delegate more, the question is whether the current calm in pay revolts reflects genuine satisfaction — or simply a more diffuse, harder-to-organize opposition.
