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Companies KinderCare Learning Companies

KinderCare Learning Companies (KLC): executive pay, fiscal 2025

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CEO total pay$2,493,870CEO Tom Wyatt · source
Say-on-pay support94.8%Latest vote · source
CEO vs. named peers20th pct.Of 20 peer CEOs
CEO pay ratio283:1To the median employee · source

CEO pay, last three years

  • $3,319,666FY2023
  • $58,971,059FY2024
  • $2,493,870FY2025

CEO total pay was $2,493,870 in fiscal 2025, down from $58,971,059 in fiscal 2024.

FY2025: salary $78,750 · bonus $0 · stock awards $0 · option awards $0

Executives and directors

Frequently asked questions

Who was the highest-paid executive at KinderCare Learning Companies in fiscal 2025?
As disclosed, Paul Thompson (Former Chief Executive Officer) was the highest-paid executive at KinderCare Learning Companies in fiscal 2025, with total compensation of $5,271,869.
How does KinderCare Learning Companies's chief executive pay compare to its disclosed peer group?
As disclosed, Tom Wyatt's total compensation ranked at the 20th percentile of KinderCare Learning Companies's disclosed peer group.
What is KinderCare Learning Companies's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio?
As disclosed, KinderCare Learning Companies's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 283:1.
How did shareholders vote on KinderCare Learning Companies's executive compensation?
As disclosed, 94.8% of shareholders supported KinderCare Learning Companies's executive compensation in the latest say-on-pay vote.
How much does KinderCare Learning Companies spend in total on board compensation for fiscal 2025?
As disclosed, KinderCare Learning Companies reported total board compensation of $1,842,594 for fiscal 2025.

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 officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Paul Thompson$901,923$0$1,102,788$1,006,461$2,236,887$0$23,810$5,271,869
Former Chief Executive Officer
Tom Wyatt78,7500002,399,267015,8532,493,870
Chief Executive Officer
Tony Amandi525,0000461,164420,8791,023,829018,3132,449,185
Chief Financial Officer
Jessica Harrah391,3460220,551201,292460,199012,3541,285,742
Chief People Officer
Lindsay Sorhondo400,9620210,521192,138386,435014,0011,204,057
Former Chief Operating Officer

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
Paul Thompson$5,271,869$21,374,546$1,858,402↓ −16,102,677
Tom Wyatt2,493,87058,971,0593,319,666↓ −56,477,189
Tony Amandi2,449,1856,924,7441,225,322↓ −4,475,559
Jessica Harrah1,285,7422,092,3731,047,307↓ −806,631
Lindsay Sorhondo1,204,057———

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

The executive compensation program is designed to motivate, reward, focus, attract and retain high caliber management deemed essential to ensure success, aligning compensation with short- and long-term objectives, business strategy and financial performance.

CEO STI target (% of salary)—
CEO LTI target (% of salary)—
Independent consultantFarient Advisors LLC
Clawback policytrue
Anti-hedging—
Anti-pledging—
Equity grants and outstanding awards

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
Jessica HarrahRSU2025-03-14——14,182—$220,551
Lindsay SorhondoRSU2025-03-14——13,537—210,521
Tony AmandiPSU2025-01-01—367,500—735,000—
Jessica HarrahPSU2025-01-01—220,000—440,000—
Paul ThompsonRSU2025-03-14——70,912—1,102,788
Tony AmandiRSU2025-03-14——29,654—461,164
Jessica HarrahOPTION2025-03-14——28,365—201,292
Lindsay SorhondoOPTION2025-03-14——27,075—192,138
Tony AmandiOPTION2025-03-14——59,308—420,879
Paul ThompsonOPTION2025-03-14——141,825—1,006,461
Lindsay SorhondoPSU2025-01-01—180,000—360,000—
Paul ThompsonPSU2025-01-01—962,500—1,925,000—

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
Jessica Harrah$220,551$0$201,2920.0%
Lindsay Sorhondo210,5210192,1380.0%
Tony Amandi461,1640420,8790.0%
Paul Thompson1,102,78801,006,4610.0%

% 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
Lindsay SorhondoRSU568—$2,363
Jessica HarrahRSU680—2,829
Lindsay SorhondoOption1,27320.61—
Jessica HarrahOption1,52420.61—
Tony AmandiRSU1,591—6,619
Tony AmandiOption3,56120.61—
Tom WyattRSU6,444—26,807
Lindsay SorhondoRSU13,537—56,314
Tom WyattRSU13,914—57,882
Jessica HarrahRSU14,182—58,997
Tom WyattOption14,41520.61—
Lindsay SorhondoOption27,07516.37—
Jessica HarrahOption28,36516.37—
Tony AmandiRSU29,654—123,361
Tony AmandiOption59,30816.37—
Director compensation
DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Tom WyattEmployee director · Board Chair$293,796$193,856———$487,652
Jean DesravinesIndependent · Lead Independent Director · Audit · Nominating and Corporate Governance (Chair)150,000215,923———365,923
Mike NuzzoIndependent · Audit (Chair) · Compensation125,000215,923———340,923
Christine DeputyIndependent · Compensation (Chair) · Nominating and Corporate Governance116,250215,923———332,173
Alyssa WaxenbergIndependent · Audit100,000215,923———315,923
Benjamin RussellNot independent · Not standing for re-election · Departed during FY000—00
Paul ThompsonEmployee director · Departed during FY—————0
Preston GrastyNot independent · Departed during FY000—00
Joel SchwartzNot independent · Compensation000—00

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$100,000
Annual equity retainer$150,000
Per board meeting fee—
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)25,000 / 20,000
Stock ownership guideline—

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$785,046
Equity awards (grant-date value)$1,057,548
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$1,842,594

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

Peer group, and who names KinderCare Learning Companies as a peer

Companies that benchmark against KLC

No companies currently name KLC as a compensation peer in their most recent disclosure.

This is the complete answer, not a partial one — the list is never padded.

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.

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
1Stride, Inc.2026James Rhyu$1,000,000$20,178,768$0$1,271,271$22,466,332
2Life Time Group Holdings, Inc.2025Bahram Akradi1,465,38513,499,9850015,199,475
3Petco Health & Wellness Company, Inc.2025Joel Anderson1,300,0008,875,0042,125,0002,056,99714,366,907
4Abercrombie & Fitch Co.2025Fran Horowitz1,400,00010,456,90301,372,00013,300,257
5American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.2025Jay Schottenstein1,750,0006,650,0112,850,0011,071,87512,662,838
6Five Below, Inc.2025Winnie Park1,100,0006,792,21502,750,00010,814,084
7Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc.2025Steve Lawrence1,080,2886,999,99801,438,1559,560,129
8Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.2025Denise Paulonis1,229,2316,000,11601,868,4329,112,619
9H&R Block, Inc.2026Curtis Campbell816,3193,850,0980963,7575,762,428
10Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc.2025Stephen Kramer699,6602,625,034875,133588,4145,303,738
11Chegg, Inc.2025Dan Rosensweig850,0004,070,000004,934,000
12Graham Holdings Company2025Timothy O'Shaughnessy1,200,000002,728,4753,989,759
13Scholastic Corporation2026Peter Warwick1,079,2311,374,978125,0161,101,8083,742,972
14KinderCare Learning Companies2025Tom Wyatt78,750002,399,2672,493,870
15Zumiez, Inc.2025Richard Brooks735,000001,008,0891,749,159
16The Children’s Place, Inc.2025Muhammad Umair650,0001,025,225001,715,000
17Urban Outfitters, Inc.2026Richard A. Hayne1001,000,0001,042,012
18Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.2026Jonathan Shar594,23100—795,540
—WW International, Inc.——————not in coverage universe
—Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings, Inc.——————not in coverage universe
—Designer Brands Inc.——————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
KinderCare Learning Companiesnot disclosednot disclosednot disclosedFarient Advisors LLC
Abercrombie & Fitch Co.49%PSU 50 · RSU 50Yes — Relative TSR vs. compensation peer groupSemler Brossy Consulting Group, LLC
Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc.75.7%PSU 50 · RSU 50NoFrederic W. Cook & Co, Inc. (FW Cook)
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.not disclosedPSU 50 · Option 30 · RSU 20not disclosedFW Cook
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc.108% of target for CEO and other NEOs (except Rosamund Marshall at 81% of her target)%RSUs 50 · PRSUs 25 · Stock Options 25NoMeridian Compensation Partners, LLC
Chegg, Inc.not disclosedPSU 70 · RSU 30NoAon
Designer Brands Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Five Below, Inc.not disclosedPSU 60 · RSU 40NoMeridian
Graham Holdings Companynot disclosednot disclosednot disclosedSemler Brossy
H&R Block, Inc.not disclosedPSU 65 · RSU 35NoCompensation Advisory Partners LLC
Life Time Group Holdings, Inc.not disclosedRSU 50 · PSU 50not disclosedWTW (formerly Willis Towers Watson)
Petco Health & Wellness Company, Inc.not disclosedRSU 50 · PSU 25 · Option 25not disclosedExequity
Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.95%PSU 50 · RSU 50Yes — rTSRFW Cook
Scholastic Corporationnot disclosednot disclosednot disclosedPay Governance LLC
Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Stride, Inc.64%PSU 60 · RSU 40NoCompensia
The Children’s Place, Inc.not disclosedRSU 40 · Deferred Cash Awards 30 · Performance Cash Awards 30not disclosedFrederic W. Cook & Co.
Urban Outfitters, Inc.100%PSU 50 · RSU 50NoKorn Ferry Hay Group
WW International, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Zumiez, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosedMeridian Compensation Partners

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
20262026-06-0497,216,6525,333,4772,92794.8%Passed
20252025-06-05110,830,838372,1054,62699.67%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
20262026-06-0494.8%a
20252025-06-0599.67%b

a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Proposal 2 will be approved if a majority of the votes cast affirmatively or negatively on the matter is cast "for" the proposal. || Abstentions: Abstentions will have no effect on the outcome of Proposal 2.”.

b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Proposal 2 will be approved if a majority of the votes cast affirmatively or negatively on the matter is cast "for" the proposal. || Abstentions: Abstentions will have no effect on the outcome of Proposal 2.”.

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)283 : 1
CEO total compensation$7,765,739
Median employee compensation$27,453
Insider trades since the proxy

No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.

Sources (50 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, Paul Thompson. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 32. As printed: 5,271,869. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Tom Wyatt. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 32. As printed: 2,493,870. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Tony Amandi. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 32. As printed: 2,449,185. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Jessica Harrah. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 32. As printed: 1,285,742. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Lindsay Sorhondo. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 32. As printed: 1,204,057. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Jessica Harrah RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Lindsay Sorhondo RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Tony Amandi PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Jessica Harrah PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Paul Thompson RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Tony Amandi RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Jessica Harrah OPTION. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Lindsay Sorhondo OPTION. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Tony Amandi OPTION. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Paul Thompson OPTION. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Lindsay Sorhondo PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Paul Thompson PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 07, pay ratio. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 283 : 1. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Tom Wyatt. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 487,652. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Jean Desravines. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 365,923. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Mike Nuzzo. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 340,923. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Christine Deputy. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 332,173. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Alyssa Waxenberg. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 315,923. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Benjamin Russell. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Paul Thompson. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Preston Grasty. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Joel Schwartz. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2026 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2026-06-05. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 94.8% (votes for as printed: 97,216,652.03). View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2025 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2025-06-09. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.67% (votes for as printed: 110,830,838). 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 785,046 + equity 1,057,548 + all other 0 = 1,842,594, summed across the director compensation table rows.
  • Stride, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. CEO total compensation as printed in Stride, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 22,466,332. View filing ↗
  • Life Time Group Holdings, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-11. CEO total compensation as printed in Life Time Group Holdings, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 15,199,475. View filing ↗
  • Petco Health & Wellness Company, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-05-14. CEO total compensation as printed in Petco Health & Wellness Company, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 14,366,907. View filing ↗
  • Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. CEO total compensation as printed in Abercrombie & Fitch Co.'s own proxy. As printed: 13,300,257. View filing ↗
  • American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-05-15. CEO total compensation as printed in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 12,662,838. View filing ↗
  • Five Below, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-05-01. CEO total compensation as printed in Five Below, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 10,814,084. View filing ↗
  • Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-21. CEO total compensation as printed in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 9,560,129. View filing ↗
  • Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2025-12-10. CEO total compensation as printed in Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 9,112,619. View filing ↗
  • H&R Block, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-09-29. CEO total compensation as printed in H&R Block, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 5,762,428. View filing ↗
  • Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. CEO total compensation as printed in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 5,303,738. View filing ↗
  • Chegg, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-28. CEO total compensation as printed in Chegg, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 4,934,000. View filing ↗
  • Graham Holdings Company, Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-24. CEO total compensation as printed in Graham Holdings Company's own proxy. As printed: 3,989,759. View filing ↗
  • Scholastic Corporation, Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-08-07. CEO total compensation as printed in Scholastic Corporation's own proxy. As printed: 3,742,972. View filing ↗
  • KinderCare Learning Companies (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-20. CEO total compensation as printed in KinderCare Learning Companies's own proxy. As printed: 2,493,870. View filing ↗
  • Zumiez, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. CEO total compensation as printed in Zumiez, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 1,749,159. View filing ↗
  • The Children’s Place, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. CEO total compensation as printed in The Children’s Place, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 1,715,000. View filing ↗
  • Urban Outfitters, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-01. CEO total compensation as printed in Urban Outfitters, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 1,042,012. View filing ↗
  • Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-08-12. CEO total compensation as printed in Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 795,540. View filing ↗
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