Our Take
Green's outsized compensation reflects The Trade Desk's stock performance, not a sector-wide trend—most adtech CEO pay remained stable and CEO-to-worker gaps stayed below S&P 500 median.
Why it matters
Adtech compensation patterns matter to investors tracking founder-led tech companies and to employees comparing sector pay equity. The data shows adtech is not the runaway outlier it might appear.
Do this week
Investor relations: pull your own CEO compensation against S&P 500 median and adtech peer group before next proxy filing cycle to contextualize outlier payouts.
The Trade Desk's CEO compensation led adtech in 2025
Jeff Green took home $27.4 million in total compensation for 2025, according to SEC filings reviewed by executive intelligence firm Equilar and reported by Adweek. That figure exceeds the median S&P 500 CEO compensation by 53.8% (per the company filing). The comparison set included 22 publicly traded companies: 15 classified as major adtech firms (AppLovin, Criteo, and others) and seven agency holding companies (Omnicom, Publicis).
No other adtech CEO in the dataset matched Green's payout. Compensation levels across the adtech sector remained relatively stable from 2024 to 2025, with a few major outliers reshaping the rankings (per Equilar's data).
Adtech pay gaps remain below broader market norms
Green's compensation stands out in absolute terms, but the sector context matters. CEO-to-worker pay ratios across adtech remained below the median ratio observed in the S&P 500. This suggests adtech is not experiencing the extreme executive-pay inflation that characterizes some other tech sectors. The Trade Desk's stock performance and founder leadership position Green differently from peer CEOs at more traditional holding companies.
For investors monitoring executive compensation as a proxy for company health and market confidence, the data shows adtech remains relatively disciplined. For talent competing for senior roles, the sector is not outpacing broader tech on base CEO economics, even as individual names like Green command premium multiples.
Compare your peer set before next proxy season
If you sit on a board, prepare your own compensation benchmarking against both adtech peers and S&P 500 medians. Single-name outliers often trigger investor questions and proxy advisory scrutiny. Having the peer context ready prevents reactive narrative-setting later. The Equilar data confirms that adtech compensation patterns are more stable than they appear in headline form—use that stability to your advantage when justifying or explaining your own company's approach to proxy voters.