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Clearwater Paper Executive Compensation (FY25)

CLW · Executive and director compensation, fiscal 2022 to 2025
Chief executive, fiscal 2025
◇
Arsen Kitch
Median of the other named officers
$1,279,259
5 officers, excluding the chief executive
Latest say-on-pay support
=
May 7, 2026
Chief executive pay ratio
◇
To the median employee
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Data as of November 4, 2026Latest filing (8-K): May 12, 2026
12 filings cited on this page
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291 figures on this page: 282 cited to the filing that reported them, 9 calculated from figures it prints. See the citations
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 — Arsen Kitch: $5,974,230 → $5,201,341 (12.9% lower)
Say-on-pay support: 89.2% → 84.7% (4.5 points lower)
CEO pay ratio: 56:1 → 51:1 (8.9% lower)

Frequently asked questions

Answers drawn from the data on this page.
Who is Clearwater Paper's chief executive and what were they paid?
Arsen Kitch, President and Chief Executive Officer, received $5,201,341 in total compensation for fiscal 2025. Kitch's total moved 12.9% lower from the $5,974,230 reported for fiscal 2024.
What was Clearwater Paper's say-on-pay result?
For fiscal 2025, shareholders backed the say-on-pay proposal with 84.7% of votes cast including abstentions in favor at the meeting held May 7, 2026.
Which companies are in Clearwater Paper's peer group?
The disclosed peer group names AdvanSix Inc., AptarGroup Inc., Cascades Inc., Innospec Inc. and Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, among others.
What is Clearwater Paper's chief executive pay ratio?
The disclosed chief executive pay ratio for fiscal 2025 is 51:1, against median employee compensation of $101,674.

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
Arsen Kitch
President and Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michael Murphy
Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michael Gadd
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Steve Bowden
Senior Vice President, Gen’l Mgr, Pulp and Paperboard Division
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Kari Moyes
Senior Vice President, Human Resources
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2023
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Arsen Kitch
President and Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michael Gadd
Former Senior Vice President
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Kari Moyes
Senior Vice President
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Steve Bowden
Senior Vice President, Commercial
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Sherri Baker
Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2024
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Arsen Kitch
President and Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Sherri Baker
Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michael Gadd
Former Senior Vice President
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Steve Bowden
Senior Vice President, Commercial
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Kari Moyes
Senior Vice President
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2025
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Arsen Kitch
President and Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Sherri Baker
Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michael Gadd
Former Senior Vice President
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Steve Bowden
Senior Vice President, Commercial
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Kari Moyes
Senior Vice President
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Matthew Passarello
Senior Vice President, Supply Chain and Corporate Development
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
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
Arsen S. KitchPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Arsen S. KitchRSU◇——◇——◇
Kari G. MoyesPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Kari G. MoyesRSU◇——◇——◇
Matthew D. PassarelloPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Matthew D. PassarelloRSU◇——◇——◇
Michael S. GaddPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Michael S. GaddRSU◇——◇——◇
Sherri J. BakerPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Sherri J. BakerRSU◇——◇——◇
Steve M. BowdenRSU◇——◇——◇
Steve M. BowdenPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Fiscal 2022 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
Arsen KitchPSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Sherri BakerRSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Michael GaddPSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Matthew PassarelloRSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Steve BowdenPSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Kari MoyesPSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
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
Alexander Toeldte
Board chair · Lead independent director
◇◇————◇
John J. Corkrean
◇◇————◇
John P. O'Donnell
◇◇————◇
Jeanne M. Hillman
◇◇————◇
Ann C. Nelson
◇◇————◇
Christine M. Vickers Tucker
◇◇————◇
Joe W. Laymon
◇◇————◇
Kevin J. Hunt
◇◇————◇
Arsen S. Kitch 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◇
Board equity retainer◇
Total board retainer◇
Board chair premium◇
Audit committee chair◇
Audit committee member◇
Compensation committee chair◇
Compensation committee member◇
Nominating and governance chair◇
Nominating and governance member◇
Board meeting fee◇
Committee meeting fee◇
Equity is delivered as Phantom common stock units.

Disclosed peer group

The companies this board named as its compensation comparison group. The list is disclosure; the comparison is analysis.
Fiscal 2025
  • AdvanSix Inc. ASIX
  • AptarGroup Inc. ATR
  • Cascades Inc. symbol not shown
  • Innospec Inc. IOSP
  • Kaiser Aluminum Corporation KALU
  • Koppers Holdings Inc. KOP
  • Mativ Holdings Inc. MATV
  • Mercer International Inc. MERC
  • Myers Industries Inc. MYE
  • Pactiv Evergreen Inc. PTVE
  • Sylvamo Corporation SLVM

Say-on-pay history

Shareholder support for the compensation program, by year.
YearMeetingSupportVotes forVotes againstAbstentions
2025May 7, 2026=◇◇◇
2024May 8, 2025=◇◇◇
2022May 11, 2023=◇◇◇
2021May 16, 2022=◇◇◇
2019May 13, 2020=◇◇◇
2018May 13, 2019=◇◇◇
2017May 14, 2018=◇◇◇
2016May 7, 2017=◇◇◇
2015May 2, 2016=◇◇◇

Chief executive pay ratio

As calculated and reported by the company.
Ratio
◇
Median employee compensation
◇
Chief executive total compensation
◇

Ask our research desk — $99, 24h, every figure cited to its filing.

Sample answer — “What is the CEO’s total compensation?”
- Arsen Kitch (President and Chief Executive Officer), FY2025 total compensation $5,201,341 (base salary $1,000,000) [exec_comp, SEC accession 0001441236-26-000018, filed 2026-03-27]

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What this page does not include

Everything above is a fact Clearwater Paper disclosed, and it is free. Everything below is our analysis of those facts, and it is not.
Peer benchmarking
Where Clearwater Paper 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 — $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 — $500
Board and governance analysis
Committee composition, independence, director pay positioning, and the governance provisions read together rather than listed.
Board Governance Report — $500
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.
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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.
291 figures on this page: 282 cited to the filing that reported them, 9 calculated from figures it prints.
282 cited to the filing
9 calculated from the filing

Documents cited

  1. 0001441236-26-000028
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  2. 0001441236-26-000018
    2025 Summary Compensation Table · CEO Pay Ratio · Compensation of Directors
  3. 0001193125-25-117819
    Item 402 of Regulation S-K was approved, on an advisory basis, by the stockholders as follows: For Against Abstain Broker Non-Votes
  4. 0001193125-25-066733
    2025 Summary Compensation Table
  5. 0001193125-23-144622
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  6. 0001193125-23-084536
    EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION TABLES
  7. 0001193125-22-154042
  8. 0001564590-20-026169
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  9. 0001564590-19-019731
  10. 0001564590-18-013885
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  11. 0001564590-17-010577
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  12. 0001193125-16-581402
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
Cite this data
This page is free to cite. Attribution we ask for:
Velarion, “Clearwater Paper executive compensation, FY2022–FY2025.” https://intel.velarion.ai/comp/CLW (accessed 2026).
Short form: data: Velarion

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12 filings cited on this page
Method: intel.velarion.ai/methodology
A report that fails to generate is refunded in full
Published by Velarion Company Intelligence
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Peers Clearwater Paper discloses

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

AdvanSix Inc.AptarGroup Inc.Innospec Inc.Kaiser Aluminum CorporationKoppers Holdings Inc.Mativ Holdings Inc.Mercer International Inc.Myers Industries Inc.Sylvamo Corporation

Terms on this page

Say-on-Pay VoteCEO Pay RatioMedian Employee CompensationAll companies

Free to read and cite. Redistribution or bulk use of the dataset requires a data license. Talk to us about the data license.

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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