{"id":278684,"date":"2025-08-26T06:29:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T13:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jthelander.com\/?p=278684"},"modified":"2025-08-26T06:29:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T13:29:00","slug":"ceo-compensation-in-digital-health-biotech-and-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/?p=278684","title":{"rendered":"CEO Compensation in Digital Health, Biotech and Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;When you&#8217;re building a company, there&#8217;s always the question of how much should you pay yourself. The best way to answer that question? Look at actual data.&#8221; &#8211; Halle Tecco<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We teamed up with Rock Health Founder,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/halletecco\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Halle Tecco<\/a>, to look at what digital health CEO compensation looks like in 2025, how it has changed over the last few years, and how it compares to tech and biotech.&nbsp;You can read Halle&#8217;s full blog post&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/halletecco.substack.com\/p\/heres-how-much-digital-health-ceos?triedRedirect=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The&nbsp;<strong>Thelander Digest<\/strong>&nbsp;is powered by data, insights and analysis from the&nbsp;<strong>Thelander Platform<\/strong>. Your portfolio companies can access personalized compensation data by filling out our&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/survey.jthelander.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">survey<\/a>&nbsp;today. We can even help with job-matching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, let&#8217;s dig into the data.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Digital Health CEO Compensation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CEO cash compensation depends on how much capital you raise. &#8220;Early-stage&#8221; companies are defined here as those that&nbsp;raised less than $15 million, and &#8220;Mid-stage&#8221; companies as those that have raised between $15 and $50 million.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image img-border\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/35797351-9d3a-83c1-84bd-81ba2004a72e.png\" alt=\"Digital Health CEO Compensation\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Key Takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-279309\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Compensation for early-stage (less than $15 million) CEOs in the digital health field stayed relatively steady from 2021 through 2023 (ranging from $225,000 to $235,000) before dropping in 2024 to $197,500 and edging up slightly (but not back to its previous levels) this year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-279309\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mid-stage ($15 &#8211; $50 million) CEO compensation rose substantially between 2021 and 2024 from $275,000 to $362,500, and dropped slightly in 2025 to $350,000.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-279309\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The gap between what early and mid stage CEOs are making is widening. In 2021, the median salary difference was $50,000. In 2025, it&#8217;s nearly tripled to around $150,000.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Equity vs. Cash Compensation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Salary is just one piece of the compensation equation. As Halle said, &#8220;most founders take far less cash than they could make elsewhere because they&#8217;re earning equity they hope will be worth something down the line.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image img-border\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/76c661a2-38ae-3709-1a1e-480331570853.png\" alt=\"Digital Health CEO Equity\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Key Takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-279309\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;Early stage founder CEOs have 25.7% at the median in equity, compared to 14.7% at the mid-stage.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-279309\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hired CEOs have 10% in non-founder equity at early-stage&nbsp;companies, which falls to 6% as they reach mid-stage.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-279309\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Equity remains the &#8220;primary lever for wealth creation, and the biggest reason to bet on a high-growth company in healthcare.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>CEO Compensation in Digital Health vs. Tech vs. Biotech<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With that in mind, how does digital health CEO compensation stack up to other sectors?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image img-border\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/e3ea04cf-01cd-3524-9298-8eb11c7b2741.png\" alt=\"Digital Health \/ Tech \/ Biotech\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Key Takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-279309\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;At the early stage, digital health CEOs earn the lowest&nbsp;median salary at $204,500, compared to $225,000 in biotech and $250,000 in tech.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-279309\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the mid-stage, that flips: digital health CEOs earn $350,000 &#8211; more than their counterparts in tech ($260,000) and only slightly behind biotech ($363,750).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Compensation is &#8220;always a moving target, but seeing real data helps founders and operators calibrate expectations and make smarter decisions.&#8221; Invite your portfolio companies to participate in the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/survey.jthelander.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thelander Private Company Compensation Survey<\/a>&nbsp;to access more data like this and&nbsp;see how their current compensation stacks up to real-time, vetted market data.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center btn-post wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/survey.jthelander.com\/\">www.survey.jthelander.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;When you&#8217;re building a company, there&#8217;s always the question of how much should you pay yourself. The best way to answer that question? Look at actual data.&#8221; &#8211; Halle Tecco We teamed up with Rock Health Founder,&nbsp;Halle Tecco, to look at what digital health CEO compensation looks like in 2025, how it has changed over [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,3],"class_list":["post-278684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter","tag-investment-firm","tag-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=278684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278684\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=278684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=278684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=278684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}