Companies Laureate Education
Laureate Education (LAUR): executive pay, fiscal 2025
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CEO pay, last three years
- $4,463,266FY2023
- $4,951,670FY2024
- $10,975,343FY2025
CEO total pay was $10,975,343 in fiscal 2025, up from $4,951,670 in fiscal 2024.
FY2025: salary $1,000,000 · bonus $0 · stock awards $8,343,934 · option awards $0
Executives and directors
Frequently asked questions
Answers are drawn only from the figures disclosed in this brief and cited to their location in the source filing. Where a figure required for an answer is not disclosed, that is stated rather than estimated.
Full detail
Every table from the filing. Open any section.
Summary compensation table
| Named executive officer | Salary | Bonus | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension / NQDC | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | $1,000,000 | $0 | $8,343,934 | $0 | $1,606,800 | $0 | $24,609 | $10,975,343 |
| President and Chief Executive Officer | ||||||||
| Marcelo Cardoso | 501,266 | 0 | 656,688 | 0 | 625,438 | 0 | 235,060 | 2,018,452 |
| Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer | ||||||||
| Richard Buskirk | 472,089 | 0 | 690,888 | 0 | 630,000 | 0 | 21,000 | 1,813,977 |
| Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||
| Leslie Brush | 397,906 | 0 | 374,520 | 0 | 370,000 | 0 | 21,000 | 1,163,426 |
| Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary | ||||||||
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column; 0 means it reported zero. Figures are as printed in the filing, without adjustment.
Three-year trend — total compensation per named executive
| Named executive officer | FY2025 total | FY2024 total | FY2023 total | Δ FY2024→2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | $10,975,343 | $4,951,670 | $4,463,266 | ↑ +6,023,673 |
| Marcelo Cardoso | 2,018,452 | 4,975,153 | 1,915,930 | ↓ −2,956,701 |
| Richard Buskirk | 1,813,977 | 3,699,108 | 1,560,884 | ↓ −1,885,131 |
| Leslie Brush | 1,163,426 | 1,017,038 | — | ↑ +146,388 |
Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.
Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis
We design motivational incentives for our leaders to align their interests with three main priorities that are also important to our investors: value creation and delivery through superior operating performance; a clear emphasis on long-term organizational financial stability and viability; and securing and safeguarding the talent to manage and continue to achieve our stated business objectives.
| CEO STI target (% of salary) | — |
|---|---|
| CEO LTI target (% of salary) | — |
| Independent consultant | Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC |
| Clawback policy | true |
| Anti-hedging | true |
| Anti-pledging | true |
Equity grants and outstanding awards
Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025
| Executive | Award | Grant date | Threshold | Target | Granted | Maximum | Grant-date fair value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | PSU | 2025-02-12 | 44,059 | 88,117 | — | 132,176 | $1,750,004 |
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | RSU | 2025-01-02 | — | — | 266,883 | — | 4,843,926 |
| Marcelo Cardoso | PSU | 2025-02-12 | 8,267 | 16,533 | — | 24,800 | 328,344 |
| Leslie Brush | PSU | 2025-02-12 | 4,715 | 9,429 | — | 14,144 | 187,260 |
| Richard Buskirk | RSU | 2025-02-12 | — | — | 17,394 | — | 345,444 |
| Leslie Brush | RSU | 2025-02-12 | — | — | 9,429 | — | 187,260 |
| Marcelo Cardoso | RSU | 2025-02-12 | — | — | 16,533 | — | 328,344 |
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | RSU | 2025-02-12 | — | — | 88,117 | — | 1,750,004 |
| Richard Buskirk | PSU | 2025-02-12 | 8,697 | 17,394 | — | 26,091 | 345,444 |
Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type
| Named executive officer | Time-vested (RSU) | Performance-vested (PSU) | Options / SARs | % performance-vested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | $6,593,930 | $1,750,004 | $0 | 21.0% |
| Marcelo Cardoso | 328,344 | 328,344 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Leslie Brush | 187,260 | 187,260 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Richard Buskirk | 345,444 | 345,444 | 0 | 50.0% |
% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.
Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025
| Executive | Award | Shares unvested | Exercise price | Market value unvested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leslie Brush | RSU | 1,062 | — | $35,758 |
| Leslie Brush | PSU | 1,383 | — | 46,566 |
| Leslie Brush | PSU | 2,125 | — | 71,549 |
| Leslie Brush | RSU | 2,636 | — | 88,754 |
| Leslie Brush | PSU | 5,271 | — | 177,475 |
| Leslie Brush | RSU | 6,286 | — | 211,650 |
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | RSU | 7,581 | — | 255,252 |
| Marcelo Cardoso | RSU | 8,748 | — | 294,545 |
| Richard Buskirk | RSU | 8,787 | — | 295,858 |
| Richard Buskirk | RSU | 9,399 | — | 316,464 |
| Marcelo Cardoso | PSU | 9,536 | — | 321,077 |
| Marcelo Cardoso | RSU | 11,022 | — | 371,111 |
| Richard Buskirk | RSU | 11,596 | — | 390,437 |
| Leslie Brush | PSU | 14,144 | — | 476,228 |
| Marcelo Cardoso | PSU | 17,495 | — | 589,057 |
| Richard Buskirk | PSU | 17,575 | — | 591,750 |
| Marcelo Cardoso | PSU | 24,800 | — | 835,016 |
| Richard Buskirk | PSU | 26,091 | — | 878,484 |
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | RSU | 26,629 | — | 896,598 |
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | RSU | 34,756 | — | 1,170,235 |
| Richard Buskirk | RSU | 57,021 | — | 1,919,895 |
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | RSU | 58,744 | — | 1,977,910 |
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | PSU | 69,511 | — | 2,340,435 |
| Marcelo Cardoso | RSU | 77,913 | — | 2,623,331 |
| Richard Buskirk | RSU | 127,307 | — | 4,286,427 |
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | PSU | 132,176 | — | 4,450,366 |
| Eilif Serck-Hanssen | RSU | 133,441 | — | 4,492,958 |
| Marcelo Cardoso | RSU | 190,961 | — | 6,429,657 |
Director compensation
| Director | Cash fees | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew B. CohenIndependent · Board Chair · Compensation · Nominating and Corporate Governance | $153,015 | $226,403 | — | — | — | $379,418 |
| Kenneth W. FreemanIndependent · Compensation · Nominating and Corporate Governance | 108,599 | 155,683 | — | — | — | 264,282 |
| Judith RodinIndependent · Nominating and Corporate Governance (Chair) | 63,627 | 198,155 | — | — | — | 261,782 |
| Ian K. SnowIndependent · Compensation (Chair) · Nominating and Corporate Governance | 103,599 | 155,683 | — | — | — | 259,282 |
| William J. DavisIndependent · Audit and Risk | 96,099 | 155,683 | — | — | — | 251,782 |
| Barbara MairIndependent · Audit and Risk | 95,452 | 155,683 | — | — | — | 251,135 |
| Aristides de MacedoIndependent · Audit and Risk | 88,783 | 155,683 | — | — | — | 244,466 |
| Pedro del CorroIndependent · Compensation | 79,614 | 155,683 | — | — | — | 235,297 |
Board fee structure and ownership guideline
| Annual cash retainer | $85,000 |
|---|---|
| Annual equity retainer | $175,000 |
| Per board meeting fee | — |
| Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov) | 25,000 / 15,000 / 15,000 |
| Stock ownership guideline | each covered director is expected to own a number of shares equal to or greater than five times the cash portion of the annual board retainer (currently $85,000). |
Total cost of the board
| Component | FY2025 |
|---|---|
| Cash retainers and fees | $788,788 |
| Equity awards (grant-date value) | $1,358,656 |
| All other compensation | $0 |
| Total cost of the board | $2,147,444 |
Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.
Peer group, and who names Laureate Education as a peer
Companies that benchmark against LAUR
8 companies name LAUR as a compensation peer
The list of companies that name LAUR as a peer is temporarily unavailable — recheck shortly.
Chief executive pay against the peer group
Most recent fiscal-year chief executive compensation at each disclosed peer, taken from that company’s own proxy statement.
| Rank | Company | FY | Chief executive | Salary | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laureate Education | 2025 | Eilif Serck-Hanssen | $1,000,000 | $8,343,934 | $0 | $1,606,800 | $10,975,343 |
Each peer’s compensation is from its most recently filed proxy; fiscal years differ by company. Each peer’s figures come from its own filings; the subject company is highlighted. Peers whose chief executive compensation is outside our coverage universe are stated as such, never left blank.
Say-on-pay history and pay ratio
| Meeting year | Meeting date | For | Against | Abstain | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2026-05-21 | 123,923,828 | 5,954,593 | 959,619 | 94.72% | Passed |
| 2025 | 2025-05-22 | 130,692,930 | 4,667,261 | 51,509 | 96.52% | Passed |
| 2024 | 2024-05-30 | 131,822,019 | 4,741,454 | 75,270 | 96.47% | Passed |
| 2023 | 2023-05-24 | 124,545,759 | 4,650,949 | 1,609,575 | 95.21% | Passed |
| 2022 | 2022-05-25 | 150,307,104 | 2,886,531 | 1,019,796 | 97.47% | Passed |
| 2021 | 2021-05-26 | 765,904,741 | 7,619,642 | 375 | 99.01% | Passed |
Rows are labeled by annual-meeting year, with the meeting date beside each; the vote held in a given year acts on the prior fiscal year’s compensation.
Say-on-pay — history, company’s computation
| Meeting year | Meeting date | Approval — company’s computation |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2026-05-21 | 94.72%a |
| 2025 | 2025-05-22 | 96.52%b |
| 2024 | 2024-05-30 | 96.47%c |
a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have the effect of a vote against Proposal 2 and broker non-votes will not impact the outcome.”.
b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have the effect of a vote against Proposal 2 and broker non-votes will not impact the outcome.”.
c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have the effect of a vote against Proposal 2 and broker non-votes will not impact the outcome.”.
Approval percentages are the company’s own reported computations under its own stated standard, not recomputed by Velarion. Where a company does not state a standard, none is assumed.
CEO pay ratio
| Ratio (CEO : median employee) | 1,595 : 1 |
|---|---|
| CEO total compensation | $10,975,343 |
| Median employee compensation | $6,883 |
Insider trades since the proxy
No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.
Sources (29 citations)
Each figure is listed with the filing it comes from, where it appears in that filing, and the value as printed. Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.
- Section 01, Eilif Serck-Hanssen. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation” · page 26. As printed: 10,975,343. View filing ↗
- Section 01, Marcelo Cardoso. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 2,018,452. View filing ↗
- Section 01, Richard Buskirk. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 1,813,977. View filing ↗
- Section 01, Leslie Brush. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 1,163,426. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Eilif Serck-Hanssen PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Eilif Serck-Hanssen RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Marcelo Cardoso PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Leslie Brush PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Richard Buskirk RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Leslie Brush RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Marcelo Cardoso RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Eilif Serck-Hanssen RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Richard Buskirk PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 07, pay ratio. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 1595 : 1. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Andrew B. Cohen. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 379,418. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Kenneth W. Freeman. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 264,282. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Judith Rodin. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 261,782. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Ian K. Snow. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 259,282. View filing ↗
- Section 08, William J. Davis. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 251,782. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Barbara Mair. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 251,135. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Aristides de Macedo. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 244,466. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Pedro del Corro. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 235,297. View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2026 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2026-05-27. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 94.72% (votes for as printed: 123,923,828). View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2025 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2025-05-27. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 96.52% (votes for as printed: 130,692,930). View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2024 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2024-06-05. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 96.47% (votes for as printed: 131,822,019). View filing ↗
- Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed). Computed. Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.
- Section 03b vehicle mix (computed). Computed. RSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).
- Section 09b board cost (computed). Computed. Cash 788,788 + equity 1,358,656 + all other 0 = 2,147,444, summed across the director compensation table rows.
- Laureate Education (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. CEO total compensation as printed in Laureate Education's own proxy. As printed: 10,975,343. View filing ↗