Real Estate
Cousins Properties Executive Compensation (FY25)
CUZ · Atlanta, GA · Executive and director compensation, fiscal 2022 to 2025
Data as of September 7, 2026Latest filing (DEF 14A): March 18, 2026
174 figures on this page: 172 cited to the filing that reported them, 2 calculated from figures it prints. See the citations
M. Colin Connolly was paid $8,688,925 in total compensation as President and Chief Executive Officer for fiscal 2025, and Connolly's total moved 8.8% higher from the $7,989,587 reported for fiscal 2024. For fiscal 2025, the company reported a chief executive pay ratio of 80:1, against median employee compensation of $108,989. The say-on-pay proposal drew 90.2% of votes cast for or against in favor at the meeting held April 29, 2025 for fiscal 2024. The disclosed peer group includes Brandywine Realty Trust, BXP, Inc., COPT Defense Properties, Douglas Emmett, Inc. and Empire State Realty Trust, Inc., among others.
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 — M. Colin Connolly: $7,989,587 → $8,688,925 (8.8% higher)
CEO pay ratio: 63:1 → 80:1 (27.0% higher)
Frequently asked questions
Answers drawn from the data on this page.
Who is Cousins Properties' chief executive and what were they paid?
M. Colin Connolly was paid $8,688,925 in total compensation as President and Chief Executive Officer for fiscal 2025. Connolly's total moved 8.8% higher from the $7,989,587 reported for fiscal 2024.
What was Cousins Properties' say-on-pay result?
The say-on-pay proposal drew 90.2% of votes cast for or against in favor at the meeting held April 29, 2025 for fiscal 2024.
Which companies are in Cousins Properties' peer group?
The disclosed peer group includes Brandywine Realty Trust, BXP, Inc., COPT Defense Properties, Douglas Emmett, Inc. and Empire State Realty Trust, Inc., among others.
What is Cousins Properties' chief executive pay ratio?
For fiscal 2025, the company reported a chief executive pay ratio of 80:1, against median employee compensation of $108,989.
Executive compensation
Every element reported for each named executive officer, by fiscal year.
Fiscal 2022
| Officer | Salary | Bonus | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension and deferred earnings | All other compensation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
M. Colin Connolly President and Chief Executive Officer | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Gregg Adzema Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Kennedy Hicks Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Richard Hickson Executive Vice President of Operations | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
John McColl Executive Vice President - Development | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Fiscal 2023
| Officer | Salary | Bonus | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension and deferred earnings | All other compensation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
M. Colin Connolly President and Chief Executive Officer | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Gregg Adzema Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Kennedy Hicks Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
John McColl Executive Vice President - Development | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Richard Hickson Executive Vice President of Operations | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Fiscal 2024
| Officer | Salary | Bonus | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension and deferred earnings | All other compensation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
M. Colin Connolly President and Chief Executive Officer | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Gregg Adzema Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Kennedy Hicks Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
John McColl Executive Vice President - Development | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Richard Hickson Executive Vice President of Operations | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Fiscal 2025
| Officer | Salary | Bonus | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension and deferred earnings | All other compensation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
M. Colin Connolly President and Chief Executive Officer | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Gregg D. Adzema Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Kennedy Hicks Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
Richard G. Hickson IV Executive Vice President - Operations | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | — | ◇ | ◇ |
John S. McColl Executive Vice President - 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
| Officer | Award | Grant date | Threshold units | Target units | Units granted | Maximum units | Exercise price | Grant date fair value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gregg D. Adzema | RSU | ◇ | — | — | ◇ | — | — | ◇ |
| John S. McColl | RSU | ◇ | — | — | ◇ | — | — | ◇ |
| Kennedy Hicks | RSU | ◇ | — | — | ◇ | — | — | ◇ |
| Richard G. Hickson IV | RSU | ◇ | — | — | ◇ | — | — | ◇ |
Fiscal 2022, 2023 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
| Officer | Award | Unvested units | Market value of unvested units | Exercise price | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gregg Adzema | PSU | ◇ | ◇ | — | — |
| PSU | ◇ | ◇ | — | — | |
| Richard Hickson | PSU | ◇ | ◇ | — | — |
| PSU | ◇ | ◇ | — | — | |
| Kennedy Hicks | PSU | ◇ | ◇ | — | — |
| PSU | ◇ | ◇ | — | — | |
| John McColl | PSU | ◇ | ◇ | — | — |
| PSU | ◇ | ◇ | — | — | |
| M. Connolly | PSU | ◇ | ◇ | — | — |
| PSU | ◇ | ◇ | — | — |
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
| Director | Fees earned in cash | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension and deferred earnings | All other compensation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Robert M. Chapman Board chair | ◇ | ◇ | — | — | — | — | ◇ |
Susan L. Givens | ◇ | ◇ | — | — | — | — | ◇ |
Donna W. Hyland | ◇ | ◇ | — | — | — | — | ◇ |
R. Kent Griffin, Jr | ◇ | ◇ | — | — | — | — | ◇ |
R. Dary Stone | ◇ | ◇ | — | — | — | — | ◇ |
Scott W. Fordham | ◇ | ◇ | — | — | — | — | ◇ |
Charles T. Cannada | ◇ | ◇ | — | — | — | — | ◇ |
Dionne Nelson | ◇ | ◇ | — | — | — | — | ◇ |
M. Colin Connolly 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 | ◇ |
| Compensation committee chair | ◇ |
| Nominating and governance chair | ◇ |
Equity is delivered as Common Stock.
Stock ownership guideline: 5x annual cash retainer
Disclosed peer group
The companies this board named as its compensation comparison group. The list is disclosure; the comparison is analysis.
Fiscal 2025
- Brandywine Realty Trust BDN
- BXP, Inc. BXP
- COPT Defense Properties CDP
- Douglas Emmett, Inc. DEI
- Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. ESRT
- Highwoods Properties, Inc. HIW
- Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. HPP
- JBG Smith Properties JBGS
- Kilroy Realty Corporation KRC
- Paramount Group, Inc. PGRE
- Piedmont Office Realty Trust PDM
- SL Green Realty Corp. SLG
- Vornado Realty Trust VNO
Say-on-pay history
Shareholder support for the compensation program, by year.
| Year | Meeting | Support | Votes for | Votes against | Abstentions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | April 29, 2025 | = | ◇ | ◇ | ◇ |
| 2019 | April 21, 2020 | = | ◇ | ◇ | ◇ |
Chief executive pay ratio
As calculated and reported by the company.
Ratio
◇
Median employee compensation
◇
Chief executive total compensation
◇
What this page does not include
Everything above is a fact Cousins Properties disclosed, and it is free. Everything below is our analysis of those facts, and it is not.
Peer benchmarking
Where Cousins Properties 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 — $1,500Written 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 — $1,500Board and governance analysis
Committee composition, independence, director pay positioning, and the governance provisions read together rather than listed.
Board Governance Report — $1,200Realizable 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 IntelligenceAdviser switching and vote outcomes
Two datasets covering compensation-adviser changes and what followed a contested vote. Both are part of the Velarion platform.
Enquire about accessMultiple companies at once
Cross-company views, cohort screens, and data export across the industries we cover. This page is one company; the platform is all of them.
Velarion IntelligenceCitations
Every figure on this page is cited to the document that reported it. Select any figure to see its citation.
174 figures on this page: 172 cited to the filing that reported them, 2 calculated from figures it prints.
172 cited to the filing
2 calculated from the filing
Documents cited
- 0000025232-26-000031CEO: Median Employee Pay Ratio · COMPENSATION OF DIRECTORS · Director Compensation · Grants of Plan-Based Awards · and 2 more sections
- 0000025232-25-000029Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
- 0000025232-25-000019SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE FOR 2024
- 0000025232-24-000011SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE FOR 2023
- 0000025232-23-000027SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE FOR 2022
- 0000025232-20-000028Item 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, “Cousins Properties executive compensation, FY2022–FY2025.” https://intel.velarion.ai/comp/CUZ (accessed 2026).
Short form: data: Velarion
Embed this data
A small, cited view of this data for your own page or newsletter. Every embed carries a visible link back here, so the attribution travels with it.
The headline figures, each with its citation.
Connect an AI assistant
Ask your own assistant about Cousins Properties and roughly 3,000 other US public companies, and get back the same figures on this page with the same citations. Free read access, no account. Add this to your assistant's connector settings.
Real Estate rankings
Peers Cousins Properties discloses
The companies named in CUZ's own disclosed peer group.
Terms on this page
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}
}