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The Portland Business Journal’s 2025 ranking reports $572.3 million in combined compensation for 88 executives at public companies based in Oregon and Southwest Washington. It includes executives whose reported annual compensation reached at least $1 million, but the available ranking preview does not identify which special incentives drove individual pay increases. The figures cover companies’ latest fiscal years, either 2024 or 2025, rather than one common reporting period.
What the regional ranking measures
The Portland Business Journal (PBJ) ranking covers executives at public companies based in Oregon and Southwest Washington; it is not a survey of every CEO or employer in either state. PBJ reports 88 executives, a minimum annual compensation threshold of $1 million, and $572.3 million in combined total compensation. The ranking draws on each company’s latest fiscal year, which may be 2024 or 2025, and PBJ says it could not independently verify the proxy-statement data. Portland Business Journal’s ranking preview
Its preview identifies executives at Nike and Lattice Semiconductor as having the region’s largest compensation packages. It does not provide enough detail to establish the specific incentive awards or year-over-year changes behind the headline. Naming an award, its performance target, or its effect on a particular executive’s pay requires checking the relevant company proxy statement.
Why reported total compensation is not the same as salary or cash received
Executive compensation totals can combine salary, bonuses, perks, stock awards, stock-option awards, and other pay. A large total therefore does not mean that an executive received that amount as salary or cash during the year.
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Stock and option awards are commonly reported at grant-date values in proxy statements. Those values can differ substantially from what an executive ultimately realizes, depending on share performance and award terms. Treating a grant-date figure as cash received—or as a guaranteed future payout—would be misleading. The Associated Press’s explanation of its Equilar compensation analysis describes these components and valuation limits. AP/Equilar compensation methodology
What “special incentives” can—and cannot—explain here
The ranking preview’s headline attributes pay increases to special incentives, but the available details do not show which executives received which incentives, how the awards were structured, or how much they contributed to each person’s reported total. Incentives can include annual bonuses or longer-term stock and option awards, but without the company filings it is not possible to say which category applied to a named executive or whether an award depended on performance, time, or retention.
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To evaluate a particular executive’s pay, compare the proxy’s salary, cash bonus, annual incentive, stock and option awards, and other compensation; note the fiscal year covered; and distinguish grant-date award values from amounts ultimately realized. The PBJ preview does not provide a verified company-by-company breakdown for those comparisons.
How the regional figures compare with national CEO pay
National figures offer context, not a direct like-for-like comparison. The AFL-CIO’s 2025 Executive Paywatch report, as summarized by NW Labor Press, put average S&P 500 CEO compensation at $18.9 million in 2024, 7% above the prior year. NW Labor Press summary of AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch
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A separate Associated Press analysis by Equilar reported median total compensation of $17.1 million for a defined sample of 344 S&P 500 CEOs in 2024, up 9.7%. The sample included executives who had served as CEO for at least two consecutive fiscal years at companies that filed proxy statements between January 1 and April 30, 2025. That is a median for a selected national sample, not a regional average, and should not be treated as directly comparable to PBJ’s combined total for 88 executives across different fiscal years. AP/Equilar analysis
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What readers can take from the headline
The ranking indicates that the reported pay packages among a selected group of public-company executives in the region were substantial. The headline’s specific explanation—that special incentives caused the increases—cannot be assessed from the accessible ranking details alone. Individual award amounts and causes should be treated as unconfirmed unless supported by the company’s proxy filing.
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- Author: Bungay Stanier, Michael.
- Publisher: Page Two
- Pages: 244
- Publication Date: 2016-02-29
- Edition: 1
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