Companies Robert Half Inc

Robert Half (RHI): executive pay, fiscal 2025

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CEO total pay$6,073,178CEO M. Keith Waddell · source

Say-on-pay support97.38%Latest vote · source

CEO pay ratio147:1To the median employee · source

CEO pay, last three years

$7,475,310FY2023
$6,692,263FY2024
$6,073,178FY2025

CEO total pay was $6,073,178 in fiscal 2025, down from $6,692,263 in fiscal 2024.

FY2025: salary $500,000 · bonus $0 · stock awards $4,532,948 · option awards $0

Executives and directors

Paul Gentzkow · EVP Harold Messmer, Jr. · Chairman of the Board Joseph Tarantino · CEO M. Keith Waddell · CEO Michael Buckley · CFO Dirk A. Kempthorne · Independent Director Frederick A. Richman · Independent Director Jana L. Barsten · Independent Director Julia L. Coronado · Lead Independent Director Marc H. Morial · Independent Director Marnie H. Wilking · Independent Director Robert J. Pace · Independent Director

Frequently asked questions

Who was the highest-paid executive at Robert Half Inc in fiscal 2025?

As disclosed, M. Keith Waddell (President and Chief Executive Officer) was the highest-paid executive at Robert Half Inc in fiscal 2025, with total compensation of $6,073,178.

What is Robert Half Inc's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio?

As disclosed, Robert Half Inc's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 147:1.

How did shareholders vote on Robert Half Inc's executive compensation?

As disclosed, 97.38% of shareholders supported Robert Half Inc's executive compensation in the latest say-on-pay vote.

How much does Robert Half Inc spend in total on board compensation for fiscal 2025?

As disclosed, Robert Half Inc reported total board compensation of $2,408,090 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 officer	Salary	Bonus	Stock awards	Option awards	Non-equity incentive	Pension / NQDC	All other	Total
M. Keith Waddell	$500,000	$0	$4,532,948	$0	$839,330	$0	$200,900	$6,073,178
President and Chief Executive Officer
Paul Gentzkow	450,000	0	3,840,976	0	755,396	0	180,809	5,227,181
President and Chief Executive Officer, Talent Solutions
Joseph Tarantino	850,000	0	2,089,968	0	943,287	0	268,993	4,152,248
President and Chief Executive Officer, Protiviti
Michael Buckley	350,000	0	1,499,994	0	444,953	0	119,243	2,414,190
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Harold Messmer, Jr.	105,000	0	1,150,989	0	231,495	0	0	1,487,484
Chairman of the Board

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
M. Keith Waddell	$6,073,178	$6,692,263	$7,475,310	↓ −619,085
Paul Gentzkow	5,227,181	5,784,996	6,489,782	↓ −557,815
Joseph Tarantino	4,152,248	5,199,532	4,813,714	↓ −1,047,284
Michael Buckley	2,414,190	2,742,275	3,157,410	↓ −328,085
Harold Messmer, Jr.	1,487,484	1,636,776	—	↓ −149,292

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 Company's executive compensation program is designed to align a substantial majority of executive pay with Company performance and long-term stockholder outcomes while providing competitive opportunities to attract, retain, and motivate executives. The program emphasizes variable compensation over fixed pay, with base salaries kept relatively modest and a heavy reliance on performance-based annual cash incentives and long-term equity awards.

CEO STI target (% of salary)	284%
CEO LTI target (% of salary)	—
Independent consultant	Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.
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
Paul Gentzkow	PSU	2025-03-25	—	71,888	—	134,790	$3,979,720
Harold Messmer, Jr.	PSU	2025-03-25	—	21,542	—	40,391	1,192,565
M. Keith Waddell	PSU	2025-03-25	—	84,839	—	159,073	4,696,687
Michael Buckley	PSU	2025-03-25	—	28,074	—	52,638	1,554,177
Joseph Tarantino	PSU	2025-03-25	—	39,116	—	73,342	2,165,462

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officer	Time-vested (RSU)	Performance-vested (PSU)	Options / SARs	% performance-vested
Paul Gentzkow	$0	$3,979,720	$0	100.0%
Harold Messmer, Jr.	0	1,192,565	0	100.0%
M. Keith Waddell	0	4,696,687	0	100.0%
Michael Buckley	0	1,554,177	0	100.0%
Joseph Tarantino	0	2,165,462	0	100.0%

% 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
Harold Messmer, Jr.	RSU	15,921	—	$432,414
Joseph Tarantino	RSU	17,778	—	482,850
Michael Buckley	RSU	20,733	—	563,108
Paul Gentzkow	RSU	53,102	—	1,442,250
M. Keith Waddell	RSU	62,658	—	1,701,791
Harold Messmer, Jr.	PSU	67,875	—	1,843,485
Michael Buckley	PSU	88,428	—	2,401,704
Joseph Tarantino	PSU	123,211	—	3,346,411
Paul Gentzkow	PSU	226,456	—	6,150,545
M. Keith Waddell	PSU	267,236	—	7,258,130

Director compensation

Director	Cash fees	Stock awards	Option awards	Non-equity incentive	All other	Total
Frederick A. RichmanIndependent · Audit · Compensation · Nominating and Governance (Chair) · Executive (Chair)	$80,236	$279,620	$0	$0	$0	$359,856
Robert J. PaceIndependent · Compensation (Chair) · Nominating and Governance · Executive	68,500	279,620	0	0	0	348,120
Jana L. BarstenIndependent · Audit (Chair) · Nominating and Governance	58,014	279,620	0	0	10,000	347,634
Dirk A. KempthorneIndependent · Compensation · Nominating and Governance	53,500	279,620	0	0	10,000	343,120
Julia L. CoronadoIndependent · Audit · Nominating and Governance	53,500	279,620	0	0	10,000	343,120
Marc H. MorialIndependent · Audit · Nominating and Governance	53,500	279,620	0	0	0	333,120
Marnie H. WilkingIndependent · Audit · Nominating and Governance	53,500	279,620	0	0	0	333,120
M. Keith WaddellEmployee director · Executive	0	0	0	—	0	0
Harold M. Messmer JrNot independent · Board Chair · Executive	0	0	0	—	0	0

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer	$40,000
Annual equity retainer	$279,588
Per board meeting fee	$1,500
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)	15,000 / 15,000 / 15,000
Stock ownership guideline	director will be required to own the requisite number of shares required under the policy within five years of his or her election

Total cost of the board

Component	FY2025
Cash retainers and fees	$420,750
Equity awards (grant-date value)	$1,957,340
All other compensation	$30,000
Total cost of the board	$2,408,090

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

Peer group, and who names Robert Half as a peer

Companies that benchmark against RHI

13 companies name RHI as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses RHI 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 RHI in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.

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	Robert Half Inc	2025	M. Keith Waddell	$500,000	$4,532,948	$0	$839,330	$6,073,178

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	2026-05-13	82,981,010	2,236,438	453,030	97.38%	Passed
2025	2025-05-14	88,809,259	1,937,140	65,065	97.87%	Passed
2024	2024-05-15	87,290,580	3,591,016	84,783	96.05%	Passed
2023	2023-05-17	87,435,951	4,191,897	239,589	95.43%	Passed
2022	2022-05-18	87,624,513	6,315,676	290,924	93.28%	Passed
2021	2021-05-19	91,557,847	1,961,988	128,596	97.9%	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	2026-05-13	97.38%^a
2025	2025-05-14	97.87%^b
2024	2024-05-15	96.05%^c

a. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

b. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

c. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

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)	147 : 1
CEO total compensation	$6,236,917
Median employee compensation	$42,545

Insider trades since the proxy

Every insider equity transaction reported on Form 4 after the 2025 proxy statement — acquisitions, dispositions, exercises, and withholdings — and therefore not reflected in any table in that document.

Insider	Role	Transaction date	Code	Shares	Price	Value	Security	Source
Jana L. Barsten	Director	2026-05-13	A	10,803	—	—	Common	Form 4 ↗
Marc H. Morial	Director	2026-05-13	A	10,803	—	—	Common	Form 4 ↗
Robert J. Pace	Director	2026-05-13	A	10,803	—	—	Common	Form 4 ↗
Frederick A. Richman	Director	2026-05-13	A	10,803	—	—	Common	Form 4 ↗
Julia L. Coronado	Director	2026-05-13	A	10,803	—	—	Common	Form 4 ↗
Marnie H. Wilking	Director	2026-05-13	A	10,803	—	—	Common	Form 4 ↗

Transaction codes per Form 4: A acquisition · S open-market sale · F tax withholding · M option exercise · G gift. Value = shares × price as reported. Dividend-equivalent and fractional-share accrual rows (derivative Class A, under $10,000 and under 2,000 shares) are aggregated per date; every row appears in full below.

Sources (33 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, M. Keith Waddell. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Compensation Tables” · page 39. As printed: 6,073,178. View filing ↗
Section 01, Paul Gentzkow. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Compensation Tables” · page 39. As printed: 5,227,181. View filing ↗
Section 01, Joseph Tarantino. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Compensation Tables” · page 39. As printed: 4,152,248. View filing ↗
Section 01, Michael Buckley. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Compensation Tables” · page 39. As printed: 2,414,190. View filing ↗
Section 01, Harold Messmer, Jr.. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Compensation Tables” · page 39. As printed: 1,487,484. View filing ↗
Section 03, Paul Gentzkow PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
Section 03, Harold Messmer, Jr. PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
Section 03, M. Keith Waddell PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
Section 03, Michael Buckley PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
Section 03, Joseph Tarantino PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
Section 07, pay ratio. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 147 : 1. View filing ↗
Section 08, Frederick A. Richman. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 359,856. View filing ↗
Section 08, Robert J. Pace. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 348,120. View filing ↗
Section 08, Jana L. Barsten. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 347,634. View filing ↗
Section 08, Dirk A. Kempthorne. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 343,120. View filing ↗
Section 08, Julia L. Coronado. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 343,120. View filing ↗
Section 08, Marc H. Morial. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 333,120. View filing ↗
Section 08, Marnie H. Wilking. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 333,120. View filing ↗
Section 08, M. Keith Waddell. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
Section 08, Harold M. Messmer Jr. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
Section 02, Jana L. Barsten 2026-05-13. Form 4, filed 2026-05-14. Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. View filing ↗
Section 02, Marc H. Morial 2026-05-13. Form 4, filed 2026-05-14. Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. View filing ↗
Section 02, Robert J. Pace 2026-05-13. Form 4, filed 2026-05-14. Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. View filing ↗
Section 02, Frederick A. Richman 2026-05-13. Form 4, filed 2026-05-14. Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. View filing ↗
Section 02, Julia L. Coronado 2026-05-13. Form 4, filed 2026-05-14. Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. View filing ↗
Section 02, Marnie H. Wilking 2026-05-13. Form 4, filed 2026-05-14. Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. View filing ↗
Section 06, 2026 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2026-05-14. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 97.38% (votes for as printed: 82,981,010). View filing ↗
Section 06, 2025 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2025-05-15. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 97.87% (votes for as printed: 88,809,259). View filing ↗
Section 06, 2024 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2024-05-16. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 96.05% (votes for as printed: 87,290,580). 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 420,750 + equity 1,957,340 + all other 30,000 = 2,408,090, summed across the director compensation table rows.
Robert Half Inc (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. CEO total compensation as printed in Robert Half Inc's own proxy. As printed: 6,073,178. View filing ↗