At Private Companies, Women Executives Earn Much Less Than Men

And the higher the pay, the wider the gap

By Dana Olsen June 25, 2018

A miniature man and a miniature woman standing on a stack of coins of different heights. The concept of a gender pay gap.

This story originally ran on PitchBook.

Female founders face a major funding disparity. In 2017, US-based startups founded solely by women received just about 2 percent of all VC backing, per PitchBook data.

But what about women who aren’t necessarily founders? High-level female employees of private companies tend to experience a funding gap of their own, according to data gathered by compensation firm J.Thelander Consulting.

Women in director-level roles typically earn less than their male counterparts, particularly among the executives who are paid the most. One notable exception is at the low end of the spectrum: For CEOs, COOs and chief marketing officers earning a relatively minimal amount, women tend to be paid slightly more.

We’ve gathered information from Thelander’s most recent private company compensation report to shine a light on the pay discrepancy between female and male executives. The charts below reflect data from this year and last year:

Total cash compensation for CEOs

Total cash compensation for COOs

Total cash compensation for chief marketing officers

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