Velarion · Company Intelligence
Compensation Brief
Fiscal year 2025 · Filings through 2026-07-06

Sinclair (SBGI)

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.

$10,824,228
Christopher Ripley total, FY2025
38th
CEO pay percentile vs peers
194:1
CEO-to-median pay ratio
97.42%
Say-on-pay support, latest vote
Companies that benchmark against SBGI
10 companies name SBGI as a compensation peer

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

01

Summary Compensation Table — fiscal year 2025

Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Christopher Ripley$1,000,000$950,000$6,761,543$0$2,079,652$19,033$14,000$10,824,228
President and Chief Executive Officer
David Smith1,000,000475,0004,187,45201,421,657014,0007,098,109
Executive Chairman
Lucy Rutishauser954,750487,5002,093,72600190,2262,847,3136,573,515
Former Executive Vice President / Chief Financial Officer
Robert Weisbord1,097,09902,146,07101,262,326482,28014,0005,001,776
Chief Operating Officer and President / Local Media
Jason Smith850,00002,317,4940943,49610,52114,0004,135,511
Executive Vice Chairman
Narinder Sahai323,077105,0001,681,4300374,366002,483,873
Executive Vice President / Chief Financial 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 FY20242025
Christopher Ripley$10,824,228$10,547,393$7,211,320+276,835
David Smith7,098,1093,733,8055,133,654+3,364,304
Lucy Rutishauser6,573,5154,232,3135,945,212+2,341,202
Robert Weisbord5,001,7764,894,2275,056,890+107,549
Jason Smith4,135,5113,733,805+401,706
Narinder Sahai2,483,873

Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.

02

Equity transactions since the proxy statement was filed

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.

InsiderRoleTransaction dateCodeSharesPriceValueSecuritySource
Benson E. LeggDirector2026-05-04D31,500$15$459,900CommonForm 4 ↗
Robert E. SmithDirector2026-06-04A17,095CommonForm 4 ↗
Howard E. FriedmanDirector2026-06-04A17,095CommonForm 4 ↗
Benson E. LeggDirector2026-06-04A17,095CommonForm 4 ↗
Daniel C. KeithDirector2026-06-04A17,095CommonForm 4 ↗
Laurie R. BeyerDirector2026-06-04A17,095CommonForm 4 ↗
Benjamin S. Carson, SrDirector2026-06-04A17,095CommonForm 4 ↗
David R. BochenekSVP/Chief Accounting Officer2026-06-24A8,617CommonForm 4 ↗
Daniel C. KeithDirector2026-07-02D17,00015255,340CommonForm 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.

03

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
Lucy RutishauserRSU2025-02-28144,196$2,093,726
Christopher RipleyRSU2025-02-2828250,000465,6711,000,0006,761,543
Jason R. SmithRSU2025-02-28159,6072,317,494
David D. SmithRSU2025-02-28288,3924,187,452
Narinder SahaiRSU2025-07-07118,2441,681,430
Robert WeisbordRSU2025-02-2828250,000147,8011,000,0002,146,071
03b

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
Lucy Rutishauser$2,093,726$0$00.0%
Christopher Ripley6,761,543000.0%
Jason R. Smith2,317,494000.0%
David D. Smith4,187,452000.0%
Narinder Sahai1,681,430000.0%
Robert Weisbord2,146,071000.0%

% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.

04

Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Lucy RutishauserRSU144,196$2,049,746
Narinder SahaiRSU118,2441,809,133
Robert WeisbordRSU147,8012,100,991
Lucy RutishauserRSU436,0006,197,740
SmithRSU18,783262,586
Christopher RipleyRSU142,2421,989,885
SmithRSU178,3902,729,367
Robert WeisbordSAR75,13213.31
SmithSAR250,00013.31
Christopher RipleyRSU540,8038,274,286
SmithRSU288,3924,099,492
05

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

We have established a compensation program for our executive officers that is competitive and designed to support our strategic goals. The primary objectives of our compensation program are to attract and retain the best available people while efficiently utilizing available resources, to enhance the executive officers overall performance, to align the long-term interests of our executive officers with those of our stockholders, to improve our overall business performance, and to reward individual performance.

CEO STI target (% of salary)
CEO LTI target (% of salary)
Independent consultant
Clawback policytrue
Anti-hedgingtrue
Anti-pledgingfalse
06

Say-on-pay — recent advisory votes

Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20262026-06-04252,180,0486,673,80557,83697.42%Passed
20252025-06-05260,660,1711,168,29381,43699.55%Passed
20242024-06-11243,867,0138,289,032100,76296.71%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
20262026-06-0497.42%a
20252025-06-0599.55%b
20242024-06-1196.71%c

a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “If you abstain from voting, your abstention will not count as a vote cast for or against the proposal.”.

b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “If you abstain from voting, your abstention will not count as a vote cast for or against the proposal.”.

c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “If you abstain from voting, your abstention will not count as a vote cast for or against the proposal.”.

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.

07

CEO pay ratio

Ratio (CEO : median employee)194 : 1
CEO total compensation$10,824,228
Median employee compensation$55,678
08

Director compensation — fiscal year 2025

DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Daniel C. KeithIndependent · Audit · Compensation · Nominating/Governance · Regulatory · Cybersecurity$91,625$236,177$0$0$0$327,802
Benson E. LeggIndependent · Compensation (Chair) · Nominating/Governance · Regulatory81,625236,177000317,802
Laurie R. BeyerIndependent · Audit (Chair) · Cybersecurity74,000236,177000310,177
Howard E. FriedmanIndependent · Nominating/Governance (Chair) · Compensation73,625236,177000309,802
Benjamin S. Carson, SrIndependent · Audit60,500236,177000296,677
Robert E. SmithNot independent49,000236,177000285,177
David D. SmithEmployee director · Board Chair00000
J. Duncan SmithEmployee director · Cybersecurity (Chair)00000
Frederick G. SmithEmployee director · Regulatory (Chair)00000
09

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$35,000
Annual equity retainer$230,820
Per board meeting fee$2,000
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)7,500 / 6,000 / 6,000
Stock ownership guideline
09b

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$430,375
Equity awards (grant-date value)$1,417,062
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$1,847,437

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

10

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.

FOXA Fox Corp.GTN Gray Television, Inc.NYT The New York Times CompanyIHRT iHeartMedia Inc.TGNA Tegna Inc.SSP The E.W. Scripps CompanyAMCX AMC Networks Inc.EVC Entravision Communications Corp.PSKY Paramount Skydance CorporationCMLS Cumulus Media, Inc.TDAY USA Today Co., Inc.NXST Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
10a

Peer reciprocity

Of the companies Sinclair 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.

Fox Corp. (FOXA)46 Gray Television, Inc. (GTN)47 The New York Times Company (NYT) iHeartMedia Inc. (IHRT) Tegna Inc. (TGNA) The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) AMC Networks Inc. (AMCX) Entravision Communications Corp. (EVC) Paramount Skydance Corporation (PSKY) Cumulus Media, Inc. (CMLS) USA Today Co., Inc. (TDAY) Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NXST)48

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 Sinclair.

10b

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
1Nexstar Media Group, Inc.2025Perry Sook$3,000,000$29,584,405$0$4,085,072$39,509,740
2Fox Corp.2025Lachlan Murdoch3,000,00010,594,8602,750,00010,680,00032,980,954
3AMC Networks Inc.2025Kristin Dolan2,000,0004,231,55306,030,28812,525,644
4Gray Television, Inc.2025Hilton Howell1,531,0006,506,75603,279,96611,472,138
5Sinclair2025Christopher Ripley1,000,0006,761,54302,079,65210,824,228
6The New York Times Company2025Meredith Kopit Levien995,5775,848,37901,822,1188,862,362
7The E.W. Scripps Company2025Adam Symson1,350,0003,945,07701,792,1257,239,619
8Tegna Inc.2024Michael Steib392,3086,000,00006,977,504
iHeartMedia Inc.not in coverage universe
Entravision Communications Corp.not in coverage universe
Paramount Skydance Corporationnot in coverage universe
Cumulus Media, Inc.not in coverage universe
USA Today Co., 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.

10c

Incentive design against the same peers

CompanyAnnual incentive payoutLong-term vehicle mixPSU measures include TSRCompensation consultant
Sinclairnot disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
AMC Networks Inc.101%Cash LTI 50 · RSU 50NoPay Governance LLC (through December 2025); ClearBridge Compensation Group LLC (engaged December 18, 2025)
Cumulus Media, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Entravision Communications Corp.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Fox Corp.178%RSU 50 · Options 25 · PSU 25YesFW Cook
Gray Television, Inc.215%Restricted Stock 50 · PRSU 50not disclosedMeridian Compensation Partners, LLC
iHeartMedia Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Nexstar Media Group, Inc.113%RSU 50 · PSU 50Yes — Relative TSR vs Peer GroupMeridian
Paramount Skydance Corporationnot disclosedPSU 60 · RSU 40not disclosedCompensation Advisory Partners
Tegna Inc.not disclosedPSU 70 · RSU 30NoMeridian Compensation Partners
The E.W. Scripps Company88.5%PSU 60 · RSU 40NoKorn Ferry
The New York Times Company149%PSU 80 · RSU 20YesExequity
USA Today Co., Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed

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.

11

Source register

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.

#SupportsDocumentFiledAccessionLocation in document
1Section 01, Christopher RipleyDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 10,824,228. Filing ↗machine: r5 · c36 · span 517565–517575
2Section 01, David SmithDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 7,098,109. Filing ↗machine: r17 · c36 · span 507645–507654
3Section 01, Lucy RutishauserDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 6,573,515. Filing ↗machine: span 532621–532630
4Section 01, Robert WeisbordDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 5,001,776. Filing ↗machine: span 542490–542499
5Section 01, Jason SmithDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 4,135,511. Filing ↗machine: r17 · c36 · span 552413–552422
6Section 01, Narinder SahaiDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 2,483,873. Filing ↗machine: span 527405–527414
7Section 03, Lucy Rutishauser RSUDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t17 · r9 · c15 · span 602194–602203
8Section 03, Christopher Ripley RSUDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards for 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t17 · r5 · c15 · span 595351–595360
9Section 03, Jason R. Smith RSUDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards for 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t17 · r13 · c15 · span 609040–609049
10Section 03, David D. Smith RSUDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t17 · r3 · c18 · span 592097–592106
11Section 03, Narinder Sahai RSUDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t17 · r7 · c15 · span 598946–598955
12Section 03, Robert Weisbord RSUDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “DIRECTOR COMPENSATION FOR” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t15 · r14 · c5 · span 540277–540286
13Section 07, pay ratioDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 194 : 1. Filing ↗machine: span 798763–798766
14Section 08, Daniel C. KeithDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 327,802. Filing ↗machine: t6 · r6 · c9 · span 307034–307041
15Section 08, Benson E. LeggDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 317,802. Filing ↗machine: t6 · r7 · c9 · span 308955–308962
16Section 08, Laurie R. BeyerDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 310,177. Filing ↗machine: t6 · r3 · c9 · span 301257–301264
17Section 08, Howard E. FriedmanDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 309,802. Filing ↗machine: t6 · r5 · c9 · span 305112–305119
18Section 08, Benjamin S. Carson, SrDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 296,677. Filing ↗machine: t6 · r4 · c9 · span 303187–303194
19Section 08, Robert E. SmithDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 285,177. Filing ↗machine: t6 · r2 · c13 · span 299306–299313
20Section 08, David D. SmithDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
21Section 08, J. Duncan SmithDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
22Section 08, Frederick G. SmithDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
23Section 02, Benson E. Legg 2026-05-04Form 42026-06-020001766458-26-000002Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
24Section 02, Robert E. Smith 2026-06-04Form 42026-06-080001251155-26-000001Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
25Section 02, Howard E. Friedman 2026-06-04Form 42026-06-080001630893-26-000002Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
26Section 02, Benson E. Legg 2026-06-04Form 42026-06-080001766458-26-000003Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
27Section 02, Daniel C. Keith 2026-06-04Form 42026-06-080001254017-26-000002Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
28Section 02, Laurie R. Beyer 2026-06-04Form 42026-06-080001857287-26-000001Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
29Section 02, Benjamin S. Carson, Sr 2026-06-04Form 42026-06-100000017940-26-000001Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
30Section 02, David R. Bochenek 2026-06-24Form 42026-06-260001246370-26-000002Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
31Section 02, Daniel C. Keith 2026-07-02Form 42026-07-060001254017-26-000004Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
32Section 06, 2026 voteForm 8-K2026-06-050001971213-26-000027Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 97.42% (votes for as printed: 252,180,048). Filing ↗
33Section 06, 2025 voteForm 8-K2025-06-060001971213-25-000038Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.55% (votes for as printed: 260,660,171). Filing ↗
34Section 06, 2024 voteForm 8-K2024-06-120001971213-24-000044Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 96.71% (votes for as printed: 243,867,013). Filing ↗
35Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed)ComputedcomputedΔ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.machine: formula: Δ = FY(n) − FY(n−1)
36Section 03b vehicle mix (computed)ComputedcomputedRSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).machine: formula: sums + PSU ratio
37Section 09b board cost (computed)ComputedcomputedCash 430,375 + equity 1,417,062 + all other 0 = 1,847,437, summed across the director compensation table rows.machine: formula: Σ = 1,847,437
38Nexstar Media Group, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-300001142417-26-000016CEO total compensation as printed in Nexstar Media Group, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 39,509,740. Filing ↗machine: r2 · c14 · span 1843852–1843863
39Fox Corp., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2025-09-250001628280-25-042772CEO total compensation as printed in Fox Corp.'s own proxy. As printed: 32,980,954. Filing ↗machine: span 656057–656067
40AMC Networks Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-300001193125-26-194208CEO total compensation as printed in AMC Networks Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 12,525,644. Filing ↗machine: r2 · c34 · span 747957–747967
41Gray Television, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-03-260001437749-26-009956CEO total compensation as printed in Gray Television, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 11,472,138. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c29 · span 472302–472312
42Sinclair (subject), Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-230001971213-26-000017CEO total compensation as printed in Sinclair's own proxy. As printed: 10,824,228. Filing ↗machine: r5 · c36 · span 517565–517575
43The New York Times Company, Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-03-130000071691-26-000016CEO total compensation as printed in The New York Times Company's own proxy. As printed: 8,862,362. Filing ↗machine: t66 · r6 · c16 · span 862166–862175
44The E.W. Scripps Company, Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-03-200001193125-26-116733CEO total compensation as printed in The E.W. Scripps Company's own proxy. As printed: 7,239,619. Filing ↗machine: t83 · r4 · c16 · span 1340909–1340918
45Tegna Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2025-04-080001104659-25-033034CEO total compensation as printed in Tegna Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 6,977,504. Filing ↗machine: t111 · r1 · c42 · span 1209718–1209727
46Section 10a, Fox Corp. reciprocityDEF 14A0001628280-25-042772Fox Corp. names Sinclair in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). Filing ↗
47Section 10a, Gray Television, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001437749-26-009956Gray Television, Inc. names Sinclair in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). Filing ↗
48Section 10a, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001142417-26-000016Nexstar Media Group, Inc. names Sinclair in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). Filing ↗