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Media & Telecom

Ziff Davis Executive Compensation (FY25)

ZD · New York, NY · Executive and director compensation, fiscal 2022 to 2025
Chief executive, fiscal 2025
◇
Vivek Shah
Latest say-on-pay support
=
May 6, 2026
Chief executive pay ratio
◇
To the median employee
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Data as of November 3, 2026Latest filing (8-K): May 8, 2026
19 filings cited on this page
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264 figures on this page: 253 cited to the filing that reported them, 11 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 — Vivek Shah: $12,693,370 → $11,767,948 (7.3% lower)

Frequently asked questions

Answers drawn from the data on this page.
Who is Ziff Davis' chief executive and what were they paid?
Total compensation for Vivek Shah, President & Chief Executive Officer, came to $11,767,948 in fiscal 2025. Shah's total moved 7.3% lower from the $12,693,370 reported for fiscal 2024.
What was Ziff Davis' say-on-pay result?
Shareholders supported the say-on-pay proposal with 87.8% of votes cast for or against in favor at the meeting held May 6, 2026 for fiscal 2025.
Which companies are in Ziff Davis' peer group?
The disclosed peer group includes Angi Inc., Bumble Inc., CarGurus Inc., Cars.com Inc. and Frontdoor Inc., among others.
What is Ziff Davis' chief executive pay ratio?
For fiscal 2025, the company reported a chief executive pay ratio of 143.1:1, against median employee compensation of $82,211.

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
Bret Richter
Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Jeremy Rossen
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Vivek Shah
President and Chief Executive Officer
◇———◇—◇◇
Steve Dunn
Former Chief Accounting Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2023
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Bret Richter
Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Jeremy D. Rossen
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Vivek Shah
President & Chief Executive Officer
◇———◇—◇◇
Layth Taki
Chief Accounting Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2024
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Vivek Shah
President & Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Bret Richter
Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Jeremy Rossen
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Layth Taki
Former Chief Accounting Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇———◇◇
Lori Tansley
Chief Accounting Officer
◇—◇———◇◇
Fiscal 2025
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Vivek Shah
President & Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Bret Richter
Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Jeremy D. Rossen
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Lori Tansley
Chief Accounting 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
Bret RichterPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Bret RichterRSU◇——◇——◇
Jeremy D. RossenRSU◇——◇——◇
Jeremy D. RossenPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Lori TansleyPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Lori TansleyRSU◇——◇——◇
Vivek ShahPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Vivek ShahRSU◇——◇——◇
Fiscal 2023, 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
Vivek ShahPSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
Option◇—◇1/1/2028
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Bret RichterPSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Jeremy D. RossenPSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Lori TansleyPSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero.

Severance and change in control

The terms as written in the agreements.
Lori Tansley
Chief Accounting Officer · Employment agreement · dated November 21, 2024
Severance multiple◇
Change-in-control multiple◇
Benefits continuation on change in control◇
Benefits continuation◇
Non-compete period◇
Non-solicit period◇
Bret Richter
Chief Financial Officer · Employment agreement
Severance multiple◇
Change-in-control multiple◇
Benefits continuation on change in control◇
Benefits continuation◇
Non-compete period◇
Non-solicit period◇
Jeremy D. Rossen
General Counsel · Employment agreement
Severance multiple◇
Severance cash amount◇
Change-in-control multiple◇
Benefits continuation on change in control◇
Benefits continuation◇
Non-compete period◇
Non-solicit period◇
Vivek Shah
President & Chief Executive Officer · Employment agreement
Severance multiple◇
Change-in-control multiple◇
Benefits continuation on change in control◇
Benefits continuation◇
Non-solicit period◇

Director compensation

What each non-employee director was paid.
Fiscal 2025
DirectorFees earned in cashStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Sarah Fay
Board chair
◇◇————◇
Jana Barsten
◇◇————◇
Trace Harris
◇◇————◇
Scott C. Taylor
◇◇————◇
Kirk McDonald
◇◇————◇
Neville Ray
◇◇————◇
William Brian Kretzmer
◇◇————◇
Vivek Shah 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◇

Disclosed peer group

The companies this board named as its compensation comparison group. The list is disclosure; the comparison is analysis.
Fiscal 2025
  • Angi Inc. ANGI
  • Bumble Inc. BMBL
  • CarGurus Inc. CARG
  • Cars.com Inc. CARS
  • Frontdoor Inc. FTDR
  • Getty Images Holdings Inc. GETY
  • GoodRx Holdings Inc. GDRX
  • IAC Inc. IAC
  • LendingClub Corp. LC
  • Match Group Inc. MTCH
  • New York Times Co. NYT
  • QuinStreet Inc. QNST
  • RingCentral Inc. RNG
  • Shutterstock Inc. SSTK
  • Stagwell Inc. STGW
  • Stride Inc. LRN
  • Tripadvisor Inc. TRIP
  • Veradigm Inc. MDRX
  • Yelp Inc. YELP

Say-on-pay history

Shareholder support for the compensation program, by year.
YearMeetingSupportVotes forVotes againstAbstentions
2025May 6, 2026=◇◇◇
2024May 7, 2025=◇◇◇
2023May 7, 2024=◇◇◇
2022May 5, 2023=◇◇◇
2021May 10, 2022=◇◇◇
2020May 7, 2021=◇◇◇
2019May 7, 2020=◇◇◇
2018May 3, 2019=◇◇◇
2017May 3, 2018=◇◇◇
2016May 4, 2017=◇◇◇
2015May 4, 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?”
- Vivek Shah (President & Chief Executive Officer), FY2025 total compensation $11,767,948 (base salary $1,000,000) [exec_comp, SEC accession 0001084048-26-000016, filed 2026-03-26]

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What this page does not include

Everything above is a fact Ziff Davis disclosed, and it is free. Everything below is our analysis of those facts, and it is not.
Peer benchmarking
Where Ziff Davis 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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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.
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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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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.
264 figures on this page: 253 cited to the filing that reported them, 11 calculated from figures it prints.
253 cited to the filing
11 calculated from the filing

Documents cited

  1. 0001084048-26-000024
  2. 0001084048-26-000016
    Director Compensation · Grants of Plan-Based Awards · Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End · Pay Ratio Disclosure · and 1 more section
  3. 0001084048-25-000046
  4. 0001084048-25-000028
    2024 Summary Compensation Table
  5. 0001084048-25-000007
    EX-10.16
  6. 0001084048-24-000044
  7. 0001084048-24-000033
    2024 Summary Compensation Table
  8. 0001084048-23-000041
  9. 0001084048-23-000035
    Summary Compensation Table
  13. 0001084048-22-000036
  14. 0001084048-21-000030
  15. 0001084048-20-000025
  16. 0001084048-19-000004
  17. 0001072613-18-000317
  18. 0001072613-17-000279
  19. 0001072613-16-000775
Cite this data
This page is free to cite. Attribution we ask for:
Velarion, “Ziff Davis executive compensation, FY2022–FY2025.” https://intel.velarion.ai/comp/ZD (accessed 2026).
Short form: data: Velarion

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19 filings cited on this page
Method: intel.velarion.ai/methodology
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Published by Velarion Company Intelligence
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Media & Telecom rankings

Chief executive pay — Media & TelecomCEO pay ratio — Media & TelecomSay-on-pay support — Media & Telecom

Peers Ziff Davis discloses

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

Angi Inc.Bumble Inc.CarGurus Inc.Cars.com Inc.Frontdoor Inc.Getty Images Holdings Inc.GoodRx Holdings Inc.Match Group Inc.New York Times Co.QuinStreet Inc.RingCentral Inc.Shutterstock Inc.Stagwell Inc.Stride Inc.Tripadvisor Inc.Veradigm Inc.Yelp 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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