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Companies EchoStar CORP

EchoStar (ECHO): executive pay, fiscal 2025

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CEO total pay$4,648,665CEO Charles Ergen · source
Say-on-pay support98.29%Latest vote · source
CEO vs. named peers1st pct.Of 10 peer CEOs
CEO pay ratio55:1To the median employee · source

CEO pay, last three years

  • $4,098,981FY2024
  • $4,648,665FY2025

CEO total pay was $4,648,665 in fiscal 2025, up from $4,098,981 in fiscal 2024.

FY2025: salary $1,000,000 · bonus $0 · stock awards $0 · option awards $0

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Executives and directors

Full detail

Every table from the filing. Open any section.

Summary compensation table
Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
John Swieringa$1,025,000$0$6,365,000$2,417,170$365,250$0$7,000$10,179,420
President, Technology and Chief Operating Officer
Hamid Akhavan2,500,01406,026,3180028,08713,2938,567,712
President and Chief Executive Officer, EchoStar Capital
Paul Orban696,15403,975,0000007,5204,678,674
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, DISH
Charles Ergen1,000,000000003,648,6654,648,665
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Dean Manson682,08900604,292420,04064,4587,5201,778,399
Chief Legal Officer and Secretary
Paul Gaske750,00600604,292237,00172,3487,4161,671,064
Chief Operating Officer, Hughes

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 officerFY2025 totalFY2024 totalFY2023 totalΔ FY2024→2025
John Swieringa$10,179,420$4,977,117—↑ +5,202,303
Hamid Akhavan8,567,7128,927,8657,190,962↓ −360,153
Paul Orban4,678,6742,318,412—↑ +2,360,262
Charles Ergen4,648,6654,098,981—↑ +549,684
Dean Manson1,778,3991,578,2861,203,431↑ +200,113
Paul Gaske1,671,064—1,172,147—

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

EchoStar designs its executive compensation programs to create long-term shareholder value and ensure the company's long-term success by attracting and retaining top talent, reinforcing stock ownership, and emphasizing performance as a basis for compensation. The program aims to align the interests of management and shareholders through equity compensation based on future stock performance and performance-based cash incentives.

CEO STI target (% of salary)—
CEO LTI target (% of salary)—
Independent consultant—
Clawback policytrue
Anti-hedgingtrue
Anti-pledgingtrue
Equity grants and outstanding awards

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
Hamid AkhavanRSU2025-04-01——87—$2,000
Paul OrbanRSU2025-10-01——50,000—3,975,000
Hamid AkhavanRSU2025-01-01——263,158—6,026,318
Charles W. ErgenRSU2025-04-01——87—2,000
Paul GaskeRSU2025-04-01——87—2,000
John SwieringaRSU2025-04-01——87—2,000
Paul OrbanRSU2025-04-01——87—2,000
John SwieringaRSU2025-06-26——250,000—6,365,000
Dean MansonRSU2025-04-01——87—2,000
Paul GaskeOPTION2025-10-01——15,000—604,292
John SwieringaOPTION2025-10-01——60,000—2,417,170
Dean MansonOPTION2025-10-01——15,000—604,292

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
Hamid Akhavan$6,028,318$0$00.0%
Paul Orban3,977,000000.0%
Charles W. Ergen2,000000.0%
Paul Gaske2,0000604,2920.0%
John Swieringa6,367,00002,417,1700.0%
Dean Manson2,0000604,2920.0%

% 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

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
John SwieringaOption7,71757.01—
ErgenOption7,717100.95—
Paul OrbanOption10,526165.11—
Paul OrbanOption11,81057.01—
Dean MansonOption15,00079.5—
Paul GaskeOption15,00079.5—
ErgenOption21,052165.11—
John SwieringaOption21,052165.11—
Paul GaskeOption35,78114.04—
Paul OrbanPSU50,000—5,435,000
John SwieringaOption60,00079.5—
John SwieringaPSU70,176—7,628,131
John SwieringaOption78,17114.04—
Dean MansonOption81,70014.04—
Paul OrbanOption137,15314.04—
John SwieringaOption140,35216.57—
Hamid AkhavanOption183,75114.04—
John SwieringaPSU200,000—21,740,000
Hamid AkhavanOption233,91816.57—
ErgenOption3,508,77078.98—
Director compensation
DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
R. Stanton DodgeIndependent · Compensation · Nominating and Governance (Chair)$75,500$0$56,448$0$0$131,948
Kathleen Q. AbernathyIndependent · Compensation (Chair) · Nominating and Governance · Not standing for re-election75,500056,44800131,948
George R. BrokawIndependent · Audit (Chair) · Compensation74,500056,44800130,948
William D. WadeIndependent · Audit · Nominating and Governance · Not standing for re-election71,500056,44800127,948
Tom A. OrtolfIndependent · Audit · Nominating and Governance70,500056,44800126,948
Stephen J. ByeIndependent · Not standing for re-election69,000056,44800125,448
Lisa W. HershmanIndependent · Compensation · Audit · Not standing for re-election68,500056,44800124,948
Charles W. ErgenEmployee director · Board Chair—————0
James DeFrancoEmployee director—————0
Katherine E. FlynnEmployee director · Partial-year service · Newly elected—————0
Cantey M. ErgenEmployee director—————0
William P. WallIndependent · Partial-year service · Newly elected——————

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$60,000
Annual equity retainer—
Per board meeting fee$1,000
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)5,000 / 5,000 / 5,000
Stock ownership guideline—

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$505,000
Equity awards (grant-date value)$0
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$505,000

Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.

Peer group, and who names EchoStar as a peer

Companies that benchmark against ECHO

9 companies name ECHO as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses ECHO in its own benchmarking peer group, as disclosed in each company's most recent proxy statement within the last two proxy seasons. Two companies are therefore absent by design: one that named ECHO in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.

Disclosed peer group — fiscal year 2025

The compensation peer group as the company disclosed it in its own proxy — the reference set behind the percentile above.

Peer reciprocity

Of the companies EchoStar CORP names as compensation peers, which name it back in their own disclosed peer groups. A peer set the market reciprocates reads differently from one selected in a single direction.

Reciprocity shown where the peer’s own current proxy has been read — each mark is cited in the register to that peer’s filing. A dash means the peer’s current proxy was read and names no reciprocal group including EchoStar CORP.

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.

RankCompanyFYChief executiveSalaryStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveTotal
1T-Mobile US Inc.2025Srinivasan Gopalan$861,539$27,114,078$0$3,623,603$35,439,421
2Comcast Corporation2025Brian Roberts2,600,96223,473,07608,583,17535,148,413
3Verizon Communications Inc.2025Daniel Schulman375,00032,774,7950937,50034,311,016
4AT&T Inc.2025John Stankey2,400,00019,500,01206,272,00029,906,872
5Viasat Inc.2026Mark Dankberg1,406,53810,305,39002,450,00014,208,178
6Charter Communications, Inc.2025Christopher Winfrey1,823,846004,263,1466,466,193
7EchoStar CORP2025Charles Ergen1,000,0000004,648,665
—Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.——————not in coverage universe

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.

Incentive design against the same peers

CompanyAnnual incentive payoutLong-term vehicle mixPSU measures include TSRCompensation consultant
EchoStar CORPnot disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
AT&T Inc.112%PSU 75 · RSU 25Yes — Relative Total Stockholder Return (TSR) Payout ModifierFrederic W. Cook & Co., Inc. (FW Cook)
Charter Communications, Inc.94.3%Options 90 · RSU 10not disclosedSemler Brossy Consulting Group, LLC
Comcast Corporation110%PSU 100Yes — Relative TSR ModifierKorn Ferry
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
T-Mobile US Inc.161%PSU 50 · RSU 50Yes — Relative Total Shareholder Return (RTSR)Mercer
Verizon Communications Inc.100%PSU 60 · RSU 40Yes — relative total shareholder return (TSR) position compared with the companies in the S&P 100Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC
Viasat Inc.121%RSU 50 · PSU 25 · Cash LTI 25Yes — Relative Total Shareholder Return (TSR) vs. Russell 3000 IndexCompensia

Read from each company’s Compensation Discussion and Analysis: annual incentive payout as a percentage of target, the disclosed long-term vehicle mix, whether performance-share measures include a total shareholder return component, and the retained compensation consultant. “Not disclosed” appears only where the company’s filing does not state the item.

Say-on-pay history and pay ratio
Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20232023-04-27493,571,4648,442,894134,55898.29%Passed
20202020-04-30515,367,419688,01323,97699.87%Passed
20172017-05-02514,916,888666,58912,62199.87%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 yearMeeting dateApproval — company’s computation
20232023-04-2798.29%a
20202020-04-3099.87%b
20172017-05-0299.87%c

a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have the same effect as votes "against" (i) the ratification of the appointment of KPMG LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 (Proposal 2), (ii) the approval of the compensation of our named executive officers on a non-binding advisory basis (Proposal 3), and (iii) the approval of, on a non-binding advisory basis, whether a non-binding advisory vote on the compensation of our named executive officers should be held every one, two or three years (Proposal 4).”.

b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have the same effect as votes "against" (i) the ratification of the appointment of KPMG LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm (Proposal 2) and (ii) the approval of the compensation of our named executive officers on a non-binding advisory basis (Proposal 3).”.

c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have the same effect as votes "against" the ratification of the (i) appointment of KPMG LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm, (ii) approval of the compensation of our named executive officers on a non-binding advisory basis, (iii) approval, on a non-binding advisory basis, of whether a non-binding advisory vote on the compensation of our named executive officers should be held every one, two or three years, (iv) approval of the 2017 Employee Stock Incentive Plan, (v) approval of the 2017 Director Plan, and (vi) approval of the A&R 2017 ESPP.”.

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)55 : 1
CEO total compensation$4,648,665
Median employee compensation$84,476
Insider trades since the proxy

No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.

Sources (49 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, John Swieringa. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation Tables” · page 37. As printed: 10,179,420. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Hamid Akhavan. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation Tables” · page 37. As printed: 8,567,712. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Paul Orban. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation Tables” · page 37. As printed: 4,678,674. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Charles Ergen. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation Tables” · page 37. As printed: 4,648,665. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Dean Manson. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation Tables” · page 37. As printed: 1,778,399. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Paul Gaske. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation Tables” · page 37. As printed: 1,671,064. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Hamid Akhavan RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Paul Orban RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Hamid Akhavan RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Charles W. Ergen RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Paul Gaske RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, John Swieringa RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Paul Orban RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, John Swieringa RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Dean Manson RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Paul Gaske OPTION. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, John Swieringa OPTION. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Dean Manson OPTION. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 07, pay ratio. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 55 : 1. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, R. Stanton Dodge. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 131,948. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Kathleen Q. Abernathy. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 131,948. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, George R. Brokaw. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 130,948. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, William D. Wade. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 127,948. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Tom A. Ortolf. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 126,948. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Stephen J. Bye. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 125,448. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Lisa W. Hershman. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 124,948. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Charles W. Ergen. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, James DeFranco. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Katherine E. Flynn. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Cantey M. Ergen. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, William P. Wall. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: —. View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2023 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2023-04-28. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 98.29% (votes for as printed: 493,571,464). View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2020 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2020-05-01. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.87% (votes for as printed: 515,367,419). View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2017 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2017-05-02. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.87% (votes for as printed: 514,916,888). 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 505,000 + equity 0 + all other 0 = 505,000, summed across the director compensation table rows.
  • T-Mobile US Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-27. CEO total compensation as printed in T-Mobile US Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 35,439,421. View filing ↗
  • Comcast Corporation, Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. CEO total compensation as printed in Comcast Corporation's own proxy. As printed: 35,148,413. View filing ↗
  • Verizon Communications Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. CEO total compensation as printed in Verizon Communications Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 34,311,016. View filing ↗
  • AT&T Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-23. CEO total compensation as printed in AT&T Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 29,906,872. View filing ↗
  • Viasat Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-07-27. CEO total compensation as printed in Viasat Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 14,208,178. View filing ↗
  • Charter Communications, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-12. CEO total compensation as printed in Charter Communications, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 6,466,193. View filing ↗
  • EchoStar CORP (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-18. CEO total compensation as printed in EchoStar CORP's own proxy. As printed: 4,648,665. View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, Comcast Corporation reciprocity. DEF 14A. Comcast Corporation's most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include EchoStar CORP. View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, Charter Communications, Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. Charter Communications, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include EchoStar CORP. View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, AT&T Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. AT&T Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include EchoStar CORP. View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, Verizon Communications Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. Verizon Communications Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include EchoStar CORP. View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, T-Mobile US Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. T-Mobile US Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include EchoStar CORP. View filing ↗
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