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First Merchants Executive Compensation (FY25)

FRME · Executive and director compensation, fiscal 2022 to 2025
Chief executive, fiscal 2025
◇
Mark Hardwick
Latest say-on-pay support
=
May 19, 2026
Chief executive pay ratio
◇
To the median employee
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Data as of October 21, 2026Latest filing (8-K): May 20, 2026
11 filings cited on this page
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First Merchants brief$1,500Get the executive brief
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209 figures on this page: 202 cited to the filing that reported them, 7 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 — Mark Hardwick: $2,079,268 → $2,398,488 (15.4% higher)
Say-on-pay support: 93.1% → 95.1% (2.0 points higher)
CEO pay ratio: 35:1 → 38:1 (8.6% higher)

Frequently asked questions

Answers drawn from the data on this page.
Who is First Merchants' chief executive and what were they paid?
Total compensation for Mark Hardwick, Chief Executive Officer, came to $2,398,488 in fiscal 2025. Compared with the $2,079,268 reported for fiscal 2024, Hardwick's total was 15.4% higher.
What was First Merchants' say-on-pay result?
For fiscal 2025, shareholders backed the say-on-pay proposal with 95.1% of votes cast for or against in favor at the meeting held May 19, 2026.
Which companies are in First Merchants' peer group?
Companies named in the disclosed peer group include Ameris Bancorp, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation, Customers Bancorp Inc., Enterprise Financial Services Corporation and FB Financial Corporation, among others.
What is First Merchants' chief executive pay ratio?
The disclosed chief executive pay ratio for fiscal 2025 is 38:1, against median employee compensation of $62,811.

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
Mark Hardwick
Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michael Stewart
President
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michele Kawiecki
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
John Martin
Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Stephan Fluhler
Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2023
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Mark Hardwick
Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Michael Stewart
President
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michele Kawiecki
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
John Martin
Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2024
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Mark Hardwick
Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michael Stewart
President
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michele Kawiecki
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
John Martin
Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Joseph Peterson
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2025
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Mark Hardwick
Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Michael Stewart
President
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michele Kawiecki
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
John Martin
Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Joseph Peterson
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
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
John J. MartinRSU◇——◇——◇
Joseph C. PetersonRSU◇——◇——◇
Mark K. HardwickRSU◇——◇——◇
Michael J. StewartRSU◇——◇——◇
Michele M. KawieckiRSU◇——◇——◇
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
Michele KawieckiRSU◇◇——
Mark HardwickRSU◇◇——
Michael StewartRSU◇◇——
John MartinRSU◇◇——
Joseph PetersonRSU◇◇——
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
Jean L. Wojtowicz
Board chair
◇◇———◇◇
F. Howard Halderman
◇◇———◇◇
Michael R. Becher
◇◇———◇◇
Michael C. Rechin
◇◇———◇◇
Gary J. Lehman
◇◇———◇◇
Jason R. Sondhi
◇◇———◇◇
Kevin D. Johnson
◇◇———◇◇
Clark C. Kellogg
◇◇———◇◇
Susan W. Brooks
◇◇———◇◇
Patrick J. Fehring
◇◇———◇◇
Mung Chiang
◇◇———◇◇
Michael J. Fisher
◇◇———◇◇
Larry W. Myers 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 chair premium◇
Audit committee chair◇
Audit committee member◇
Compensation committee chair◇
Compensation committee member◇
Nominating and governance chair◇
Nominating and governance member◇

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
  • Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation AUB
  • Customers Bancorp Inc. CUBI
  • Enterprise Financial Services Corporation EFSC
  • FB Financial Corporation FBK
  • First Bancorp. FBNC
  • First Busey Corporation BUSE
  • First Financial Bancorp. FFBC
  • Fulton Financial Corporation FULT
  • Glacier Bancorp, Inc. GBCI
  • Lakeland Financial Corporation LKFN
  • Northwest Bancshares, Inc. NWBI
  • Old National Bancorp ONB
  • Park National Corporation PRK
  • Renasant Corporation RNST
  • Simmons First National Corporation SFNC
  • Trustmark Corporation TRMK
  • United Community Banks, Inc. UCB
  • WesBanco, Inc. WSBC

Say-on-pay history

Shareholder support for the compensation program, by year.
YearMeetingSupportVotes forVotes againstAbstentions
2025May 19, 2026=◇◇◇
2024May 16, 2025=◇◇◇
2023May 7, 2024=◇◇◇
2022May 10, 2023=◇◇◇
2021May 10, 2022=◇◇◇
2020May 11, 2021=◇◇◇
2019May 13, 2020=◇◇◇

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 First Merchants disclosed, and it is free. Everything below is our analysis of those facts, and it is not.
Peer benchmarking
Where First Merchants 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.
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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.
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Board and governance analysis
Committee composition, independence, director pay positioning, and the governance provisions read together rather than listed.
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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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Citations

Every figure on this page is cited to the document that reported it. Select any figure to see its citation.
209 figures on this page: 202 cited to the filing that reported them, 7 calculated from figures it prints.
202 cited to the filing
7 calculated from the filing

Documents cited

  1. 0000712534-26-000041
    5 7,385,262 Jean L. Wojtowicz 40,482,972 5,197,381 7,385,262 2.
  2. 0000712534-26-000025
    COMPENSATION OF DIRECTORS · DIRECTOR COMPENSATION FOR 2025 FISCAL YEAR · GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE · OUTSTANDING EQUITY AWARDS AT END OF 2025 FISCAL YEAR · and 1 more section
  3. 0000712534-25-000123
    6 6,093,693 Michael C. Rechin 39,264,624 4,942,484 6,093,693 2.
  4. 0000712534-25-000077
  5. 0000712534-24-000171
  6. 0000712534-24-000114
    SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE
  7. 0000712534-23-000141
  8. 0000712534-23-000082
  9. 0000712534-22-000105
  10. 0000712534-21-000161
  11. 0000712534-20-000141
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Velarion, “First Merchants executive compensation, FY2022–FY2025.” https://intel.velarion.ai/comp/FRME (accessed 2026).
Short form: data: Velarion

The First Merchants brief, $1,500

Positioning against its disclosed peers, the governance read, incentive design, and the CD&A alignment analysis; the full peer table; a committee-ready PDF.
From $499 for the board report; $2,400 for both.
Get the executive briefGet the board briefNo account needed.
11 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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Banking rankings

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

Peers First Merchants discloses

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

Ameris BancorpAtlantic Union Bankshares CorporationCustomers Bancorp Inc.Enterprise Financial Services CorporationFB Financial CorporationFirst Bancorp.First Busey CorporationFirst Financial Bancorp.Fulton Financial CorporationGlacier Bancorp, Inc.Lakeland Financial CorporationNorthwest Bancshares, Inc.Old National BancorpPark National CorporationRenasant CorporationSimmons First National CorporationTrustmark CorporationUnited Community Banks, Inc.WesBanco, Inc.

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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