Fiscal year 2025 executive and director compensation, incentive-plan design, equity activity, and governance — every figure in this brief is traceable to its exact location in the company’s SEC filing — the document, the section, the page, and the table, linked directly.
Each company listed discloses ARES 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 ARES in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.
| Named executive officer | Salary | Bonus | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension / NQDC | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R. Kipp deVeer | $0 | $0 | $49,520,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $22,410,731 | $71,930,731 |
| Director and Co-President | ||||||||
| Michael Arougheti | 0 | 0 | 49,520,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18,759,532 | 68,279,532 |
| Director, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer | ||||||||
| Blair Jacobson | 472,710 | 0 | 33,673,600 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15,671,936 | 49,818,246 |
| Co-President | ||||||||
| Ryan Berry | 1,000,000 | 0 | 7,923,200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,888,408 | 11,811,608 |
| Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer | ||||||||
| Jarrod Phillips | 750,000 | 788,750 | 7,966,478 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 288,442 | 9,793,670 |
| Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||
| Naseem Sagati Aghili | 750,000 | 788,750 | 5,301,542 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 988,547 | 7,828,839 |
| General Counsel and Corporate 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.
| Named executive officer | FY2025 total | FY2024 total | FY2023 total | Δ FY2024→2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R. Kipp deVeer | $71,930,731 | $88,942,324 | $35,483,574 | −17,011,593 |
| Michael Arougheti | 68,279,532 | 85,381,842 | 30,576,590 | −17,102,310 |
| Blair Jacobson | 49,818,246 | — | — | — |
| Ryan Berry | 11,811,608 | 6,619,813 | — | +5,191,795 |
| Jarrod Phillips | 9,793,670 | 9,412,580 | 3,742,370 | +381,090 |
| Naseem Sagati Aghili | 7,828,839 | — | — | — |
Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blair Jacobson | Co-President | 2026-06-03 | D | 8,000 | $0 | $0 | Common | Form 4 ↗ |
| Michael J. Arougheti | Director | 2026-06-30 | D | 82,957 | 111 | 9,233,944 | Common | Form 4 ↗ |
| R. Kipp deVeer | Director | 2026-06-30 | D | 82,957 | 111 | 9,233,944 | Common | Form 4 ↗ |
| Jarrod Phillips | Chief Financial Officer | 2026-07-01 | D | 2,583 | 114 | 293,506 | 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.
| Executive | Award | Grant date | Threshold | Target | Granted | Maximum | Grant-date fair value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jarrod Phillips | RSU | 2025-01-31 | — | — | 50,000 | — | $6,112,500 |
| Blair Jacobson | RSU | 2025-01-31 | — | — | 170,000 | — | 33,673,600 |
| Naseem Sagati Aghili | RSU | 2025-01-20 | — | — | 1,827 | — | 349,542 |
| Jarrod Phillips | RSU | 2025-01-31 | — | — | 20,000 | — | 1,483,200 |
| R. Kipp deVeer | PSU | 2025-01-31 | — | 250,000 | — | — | 49,520,000 |
| Jarrod Phillips | RSU | 2025-01-20 | — | — | 1,938 | — | 370,778 |
| Ryan Berry | RSU | 2025-01-31 | — | — | 40,000 | — | 7,923,200 |
| Michael Arougheti | PSU | 2025-01-31 | — | 250,000 | — | — | 49,520,000 |
| Naseem Sagati Aghili | RSU | 2025-01-31 | — | — | 25,000 | — | 4,952,000 |
| Named executive officer | Time-vested (RSU) | Performance-vested (PSU) | Options / SARs | % performance-vested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jarrod Phillips | $7,966,478 | $0 | $0 | 0.0% |
| Blair Jacobson | 33,673,600 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Naseem Sagati Aghili | 5,301,542 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| R. Kipp deVeer | 0 | 49,520,000 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Ryan Berry | 7,923,200 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Michael Arougheti | 0 | 49,520,000 | 0 | 100.0% |
% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.
| Executive | Award | Shares unvested | Exercise price | Market value unvested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naseem Sagati Aghili | RSU | 155,098 | — | $25,068,490 |
| Blair Jacobson | RSU | 426,312 | — | 68,904,809 |
| Michael Arougheti | RSU | 1,400,000 | — | 226,282,000 |
| Jarrod Phillips | RSU | 180,407 | — | 29,159,184 |
| Ryan Berry | RSU | 168,706 | — | 27,267,951 |
| Michael Arougheti | RSU | 1,150,000 | — | 185,874,500 |
Our compensation philosophy has several primary objectives: (1) establish a clear relationship between performance and compensation, (2) align the interests of our NEOs and other key employees with those of our fund investors and stockholders to maximize value and (3) provide competitive incentive compensation opportunities, with an appropriate balance between short-term and long-term incentives.
| CEO STI target (% of salary) | — |
|---|---|
| CEO LTI target (% of salary) | — |
| Independent consultant | Korn Ferry |
| Clawback policy | True |
| Anti-hedging | True |
| Anti-pledging | True |
| Meeting year | Meeting date | For | Against | Abstain | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2025-06-06 | 950,695,071 | 80,721,996 | 138,281 | 92.17% | Passed |
| 2022 | 2022-06-09 | 759,068,456 | 72,245,052 | 681,703 | 91.31% | Passed |
| 2019 | 2019-05-20 | 473,608,982 | 28,447,969 | 152,836 | 94.33% | 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.
| Meeting year | Meeting date | Approval — company's computation |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2025-06-06 | 92.17%a |
| 2022 | 2022-06-09 | 91.31%b |
| 2019 | 2019-05-20 | 94.33%c |
a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions and broker "non-votes" are not considered votes cast for the foregoing purpose and will have no effect on the vote for these Proposals.”.
b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions and broker "non-votes" are not considered votes cast for the foregoing purpose and will have no effect on the vote for this Proposal.”.
c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions and broker "non-votes" are not considered votes cast for the foregoing purpose and will have no effect on the vote for these Proposals.”.
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.
| Ratio (CEO : median employee) | 346 : 1 |
|---|---|
| CEO total compensation | $68,279,532 |
| Median employee compensation | $197,440 |
| Director | Cash fees | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael LyntonIndependent · Compensation (Chair) · Conflicts | $142,500 | $218,893 | $0 | — | $115,000 | $476,393 |
| Antoinette BushIndependent · Audit · Compensation · Conflicts · Nominating/Governance | 182,500 | 218,893 | 0 | — | 15,000 | 416,393 |
| Dr. Judy D. OlianIndependent · Audit · Compensation · Conflicts · Nominating/Governance | 182,500 | 218,893 | 0 | — | 15,000 | 416,393 |
| Paul G. JoubertIndependent · Audit (Chair) · Compensation · Conflicts | 182,500 | 218,893 | 0 | — | 15,000 | 416,393 |
| Eileen NaughtonIndependent · Compensation · Conflicts | 142,500 | 218,893 | 0 | — | 15,000 | 376,393 |
| Ashish BhutaniIndependent · Compensation · Conflicts | 142,500 | 218,893 | 0 | — | 15,000 | 376,393 |
| Michael J AroughetiEmployee director · Nominating/Governance | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| David B. KaplanEmployee director | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Bennett RosenthalEmployee director | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Antony P. ResslerEmployee director · Board Chair · Nominating/Governance (Chair) | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| R. Kipp deVeerEmployee director | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Annual cash retainer | $350,000 |
|---|---|
| Annual equity retainer | $218,893 |
| Per board meeting fee | — |
| Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov) | 40,000 |
| Stock ownership guideline | 5x cash component of annual retainer |
| Component | FY2025 |
|---|---|
| Cash retainers and fees | $975,000 |
| Equity awards (grant-date value) | $1,313,358 |
| All other compensation | $190,000 |
| Total cost of the board | $2,478,358 |
Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.
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 | Ares Management Corp | 2025 | Michael Arougheti | $0 | $49,520,000 | $0 | $0 | $68,279,532 |
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.
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.
Each figure's location is given both for the eye (section · page · table · row · column) and for a script (table/row/column index and exact character span in the filed document). Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.
| # | Supports | Document | Filed | Accession | Location in document |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section 01, R. Kipp deVeer | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2025”. As printed: 71,930,731. Filing ↗machine: span 343678–343688 |
| 2 | Section 01, Michael Arougheti | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2025”. As printed: 68,279,532. Filing ↗machine: t10 · r3 · c16 · span 335528–335538 |
| 3 | Section 01, Blair Jacobson | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2025”. As printed: 49,818,246. Filing ↗machine: span 351567–351577 |
| 4 | Section 01, Ryan Berry | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2025”. As printed: 11,811,608. Filing ↗machine: span 365809–365819 |
| 5 | Section 01, Jarrod Phillips | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2025”. As printed: 9,793,670. Filing ↗machine: span 354499–354508 |
| 6 | Section 01, Naseem Sagati Aghili | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2025”. As printed: 7,828,839. Filing ↗machine: t10 · r13 · c16 · span 362742–362751 |
| 7 | Section 03, Jarrod Phillips RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t12 · r15 · c7 · span 391757–391766 |
| 8 | Section 03, Blair Jacobson RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards for Fiscal Year 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t12 · r12 · c7 · span 387343–387353 |
| 9 | Section 03, Naseem Sagati Aghili RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards for Fiscal Year 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t12 · r16 · c7 · span 393295–393302 |
| 10 | Section 03, Jarrod Phillips RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t12 · r14 · c7 · span 390400–390409 |
| 11 | Section 03, R. Kipp deVeer PSU | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t12 · r6 · c7 · span 384422–384432 |
| 12 | Section 03, Jarrod Phillips RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards for Fiscal Year 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t12 · r13 · c7 · span 388877–388884 |
| 13 | Section 03, Ryan Berry RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards for Fiscal Year 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t12 · r18 · c7 · span 396179–396188 |
| 14 | Section 03, Michael Arougheti PSU | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t12 · span 382033–382043 |
| 15 | Section 03, Naseem Sagati Aghili RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t12 · r17 · c7 · span 394650–394659 |
| 16 | Section 07, pay ratio | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 346 : 1. Filing ↗machine: span 649937–649940 |
| 17 | Section 08, Michael Lynton | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 476,393. Filing ↗machine: t24 · r5 · c10 · span 668105–668112 |
| 18 | Section 08, Antoinette Bush | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 416,393. Filing ↗machine: t24 · r3 · c11 · span 664115–664122 |
| 19 | Section 08, Dr. Judy D. Olian | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 416,393. Filing ↗machine: t24 · r6 · c11 · span 670157–670164 |
| 20 | Section 08, Paul G. Joubert | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 416,393. Filing ↗machine: t24 · r2 · c11 · span 662041–662048 |
| 21 | Section 08, Eileen Naughton | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 376,393. Filing ↗machine: t24 · r4 · c11 · span 666161–666168 |
| 22 | Section 08, Ashish Bhutani | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 376,393. Filing ↗machine: t24 · r7 · c11 · span 672201–672208 |
| 23 | Section 08, Michael J Arougheti | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗ |
| 24 | Section 08, David B. Kaplan | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗ |
| 25 | Section 08, Bennett Rosenthal | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗ |
| 26 | Section 08, Antony P. Ressler | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗machine: t24 · r8 · c8 · span 673756–673757 |
| 27 | Section 08, R. Kipp deVeer | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗ |
| 28 | Section 02, Blair Jacobson 2026-06-03 | Form 4 | 2026-06-04 | 0001756898-26-000005 | Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗ |
| 29 | Section 02, Michael J. Arougheti 2026-06-30 | Form 4 | 2026-07-02 | 0001304471-26-000006 | Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗ |
| 30 | Section 02, R. Kipp deVeer 2026-06-30 | Form 4 | 2026-07-02 | 0001576312-26-000004 | Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗ |
| 31 | Section 02, Jarrod Phillips 2026-07-01 | Form 4 | 2026-07-02 | 0001832049-26-000006 | Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗ |
| 32 | Section 06, 2025 vote | Form 8-K | 2025-06-11 | 0001628280-25-030757 | Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 92.17% (votes for as printed: 950,695,071). Filing ↗ |
| 33 | Section 06, 2022 vote | Form 8-K | 2022-06-10 | 0001628280-22-016868 | Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 91.31% (votes for as printed: 759,068,456). Filing ↗machine: span 51871–55186 |
| 34 | Section 06, 2019 vote | Form 8-K | 2019-05-22 | 0001628280-19-007110 | Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 94.33%. Filing ↗ |
| 35 | Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed) | Computed | — | computed | Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.machine: formula: Δ = FY(n) − FY(n−1) |
| 36 | Section 03b vehicle mix (computed) | Computed | — | computed | RSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).machine: formula: sums + PSU ratio |
| 37 | Section 09b board cost (computed) | Computed | — | computed | Cash 975,000 + equity 1,313,358 + all other 190,000 = 2,478,358, summed across the director compensation table rows.machine: formula: Σ = 2,478,358 |
| 38 | Ares Management Corp (subject), Section 10b CEO total | DEF 14A | 2026-04-21 | 0001628280-26-026286 | CEO total compensation as printed in Ares Management Corp's own proxy. As printed: 68,279,532. Filing ↗machine: t10 · r3 · c16 · span 335528–335538 |