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Commerce Bancshares Executive Compensation (FY25)

CBSH · Executive and director compensation, fiscal 2022 to 2025
Data as of September 7, 2026Latest filing (8-K): April 28, 2026
213 figures on this page: 207 cited to the filing that reported them, 6 calculated from figures it prints. See the citations
John Kemper was paid $6,498,082 in total compensation as President and CEO for fiscal 2025, and Kemper's total moved 7.7% higher from the $6,032,891 reported for fiscal 2024. For fiscal 2025, the company reported a chief executive pay ratio of 82:1, against median employee compensation of $78,891. For fiscal 2025, shareholders backed the say-on-pay proposal with 91.8% of votes cast for or against in favor at the meeting held April 24, 2026. The disclosed peer group names Ameris Bancorp, Associated Banc-Corp, Bank OZK, BOK Financial Corp and Cadence Bank, among others.
Chief executive, fiscal 2025
◇
John Kemper
Latest say-on-pay support
=
April 24, 2026
Chief executive pay ratio
◇
To the median employee
What changed from fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2025
The figures that moved, and by how much. Analysis of these figures is part of the Velarion platform.
Chief executive total compensation — John Kemper: $6,032,891 → $6,498,082 (7.7% higher)
Say-on-pay support: 92.3% → 91.8% (0.5 points lower)
CEO pay ratio: 81:1 → 82:1 (1.2% higher)

Frequently asked questions

Answers drawn from the data on this page.
Who is Commerce Bancshares' chief executive and what were they paid?
John Kemper was paid $6,498,082 in total compensation as President and CEO for fiscal 2025. Kemper's total moved 7.7% higher from the $6,032,891 reported for fiscal 2024.
What was Commerce Bancshares' say-on-pay result?
For fiscal 2025, shareholders backed the say-on-pay proposal with 91.8% of votes cast for or against in favor at the meeting held April 24, 2026.
Which companies are in Commerce Bancshares' peer group?
The disclosed peer group names Ameris Bancorp, Associated Banc-Corp, Bank OZK, BOK Financial Corp and Cadence Bank, among others.
What is Commerce Bancshares' chief executive pay ratio?
For fiscal 2025, the company reported a chief executive pay ratio of 82:1, against median employee compensation of $78,891.

Executive compensation

Every element reported for each named executive officer, by fiscal year.
Fiscal 2022
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
John W. Kemper
President and Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇◇◇—◇◇
David W. Kemper
Executive Chairman of the Board
◇—◇◇◇—◇◇
Kevin G. Barth
President and Chief Operating Officer, Commerce Bank
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Charles G. Kim
Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇◇◇—◇◇
Robert S. Holmes
President, Commerce Bank St. Louis Region
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
John K. Handy
General Counsel and Secretary
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2023
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
John W. Kemper
President and Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇◇◇—◇◇
David W. Kemper
Executive Chairman of the Board
◇—◇◇◇—◇◇
Charles G. Kim
Chief Financial Officer
◇◇◇—◇◇◇◇
Kevin G. Barth
President and Chief Operating Officer, Commerce Bank
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
John K. Handy
General Counsel and Secretary
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Robert S. Holmes
President, Commerce Bank St. Louis Region
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2024
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
John Kemper
President and CEO
◇—◇◇◇—◇◇
Charles Kim
Executive Vice President and CFO
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Kevin Barth
Executive Vice President
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Robert Holmes
Executive Vice President
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
John Handy
Executive Vice President
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Fiscal 2025
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
John Kemper
President and CEO
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Charles Kim
Executive Vice President and CFO
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Kevin Barth
Executive Vice President
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
John Handy
Executive Vice President
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Robert Holmes
Executive Vice President
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero. A negative change in pension value is shown but, as the company reports it, not included in the total.

Equity awards granted

Individual awards as disclosed: type, date, unit counts at each level, and grant date value.
Fiscal 2025
OfficerAwardGrant dateThreshold unitsTarget unitsUnits grantedMaximum unitsExercise priceGrant date fair value
Charles G. KimRSU◇——◇——◇
John K. HandyRSU◇——◇——◇
John W. KemperRSU◇——◇——◇
Kevin G. BarthRSU◇——◇——◇
Robert S. HolmesRSU◇——◇——◇
Fiscal 2024 are included in the PDF.
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero. Threshold, target and maximum apply only to performance awards and are never shown for time-based or option awards.

Outstanding awards

Awards still held at fiscal year end.
As disclosed at fiscal 2025 year end
OfficerAwardUnvested unitsMarket value of unvested unitsExercise priceExpires
Charles KimRSU◇◇——
Option◇—◇—
Kevin BarthRSU◇◇——
John KemperRSU◇◇——
Option◇—◇—
Option◇—◇—
Option◇—◇—
John HandyRSU◇◇——
Robert HolmesRSU◇◇——
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero.

Director compensation

What each non-employee director was paid.
Fiscal 2025
DirectorFees earned in cashStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Karen L. Daniel
Lead independent director
◇—————◇
Todd R. Schnuck
◇—————◇
Benjamin F. Rassieur, III
◇—————◇
Blackford F. Brauer
◇—————◇
Terry D. Bassham
◇—————◇
Christine B. Taylor
◇—————◇
W. Kyle Chapman
◇—————◇
June McCallister Fowler
◇—————◇
Timothy S. Dunn
◇—————◇
Jonathan M. Kemper
◇—————◇
Earl H. Devanny, III
◇—————◇
Alaina G. Maci
◇—————◇
John W. Kemper and David W. Kemper served on the board in fiscal 2025 and received no compensation for board service. Executive directors are typically paid through their executive roles, shown above.
Earlier years are included in the PDF.
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero.

Director fee schedule

The standing retainers and premiums the board pays, as published.
Board cash retainer◇
Total board retainer◇
Compensation committee chair◇

Disclosed peer group

The companies this board named as its compensation comparison group. The list is disclosure; the comparison is analysis.
Fiscal 2025
  • Ameris Bancorp ABCB
  • Associated Banc-Corp ASB
  • Bank OZK OZK
  • BOK Financial Corp BOKF
  • Cadence Bank CADE
  • Columbia Banking System Inc COLB
  • Comerica Inc CMA
  • Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc CFR
  • F.N.B. Corp FNB
  • First Interstate BancSystem FIBK
  • Fulton Financial Corp FULT
  • Hancock Whitney Corp HWC
  • Old National Bankcorp ONB
  • Pinnacle Financial Partners PNFP
  • Prosperity Bankshares Inc PB
  • SouthState Bank SSB
  • Synovus Financial Corp SNV
  • Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TCBI
  • UMB Financial Corp UMBF
  • United Bankshares Inc UBSI
  • Valley National Bancorp VLY
  • Webster Financial Corp WBS
  • Wintrust Financial Corp WTFC
  • WSFS Financial Corp WSFS

Say-on-pay history

Shareholder support for the compensation program, by year.
YearMeetingSupportVotes forVotes againstAbstentions
2025April 24, 2026=◇◇◇
2024April 25, 2025=◇◇◇
2023April 17, 2024=◇◇◇
2022April 19, 2023=◇◇◇
2021April 20, 2022=◇◇◇
2020April 21, 2021=◇◇◇

Chief executive pay ratio

As calculated and reported by the company.
Ratio
◇
Median employee compensation
◇
Chief executive total compensation
◇
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What this page does not include

Everything above is a fact Commerce Bancshares disclosed, and it is free. Everything below is our analysis of those facts, and it is not.
Peer benchmarking
Where Commerce Bancshares sits against its disclosed peers — percentile position by role and by pay element, and the ranking behind it. The disclosed peer group is free; comparisons across it are part of the Velarion platform.
Executive Compensation Report — $1,500
Written compensation analysis
A read of the pay program as designed and as paid: incentive structure, goal rigor, the alignment between the committee's stated philosophy and what the numbers show.
Executive Compensation Report — $1,500
Board and governance analysis
Committee composition, independence, director pay positioning, and the governance provisions read together rather than listed.
Board Governance Report — $1,200
Realizable pay
What the awards above are actually worth today against what they were valued at on grant, and what the gap says about the pay-for-performance link.
Velarion Intelligence
Adviser switching and vote outcomes
Two datasets covering compensation-adviser changes and what followed a contested vote. Both are part of the Velarion platform.
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Citations

Every figure on this page is cited to the document that reported it. Select any figure to see its citation.
213 figures on this page: 207 cited to the filing that reported them, 6 calculated from figures it prints.
207 cited to the filing
6 calculated from the filing

Documents cited

  1. 0000022356-26-000128
  2. 0000022356-26-000107
    CEO Pay Ratio · Director Compensation · Grants of Plan-Based Awards in 2025 · Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End · and 1 more section
  3. 0000022356-25-000033
  4. 0000022356-25-000021
    Summary Compensation Table
  5. 0000022356-24-000030
  6. 0000022356-24-000019
    Summary Compensation Table
  7. 0000022356-23-000034
  8. 0000022356-23-000024
    Summary Compensation Table
  9. 0000022356-22-000025
  10. 0000022356-21-000029
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This page is free to cite. Attribution we ask for:
Velarion, “Commerce Bancshares executive compensation, FY2022–FY2025.” https://intel.velarion.ai/comp/CBSH (accessed 2026).
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Banking rankings

Chief executive pay — BankingCEO pay ratio — BankingSay-on-pay support — Banking

Peers Commerce Bancshares discloses

The companies named in CBSH's own disclosed peer group.

Ameris BancorpAssociated Banc-CorpBank OZKBOK Financial CorpColumbia Banking System IncComerica IncCullen/Frost Bankers IncF.N.B. CorpFirst Interstate BancSystemFulton Financial CorpHancock Whitney CorpOld National BankcorpPinnacle Financial PartnersProsperity Bankshares IncSouthState BankSynovus Financial CorpTexas Capital Bancshares IncUMB Financial CorpUnited Bankshares IncValley National BancorpWebster Financial CorpWintrust Financial CorpWSFS Financial Corp

Terms on this page

Say-on-Pay VoteCEO Pay RatioMedian Employee CompensationAll companies
Cite this data
APA
Velarion Company Intelligence. (2026). Velarion database: executive and board compensation data (Version 2026Q3) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22283854
BibTeX
@misc{velarionData2026,
  author = {{Velarion Company Intelligence}},
  title = {Velarion database: executive and board compensation data},
  year = {2026},
  version = {2026Q3},
  doi = {10.5281/zenodo.22283854},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22283854}
}
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