CME Group management check
CME · Financials · Financial Exchanges & Data · CEO Terrence A. Duffy
Filings as of
5 good · 1 to watch · 1 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $181, against $165 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.83 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.6% of net income$23.4m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $4.1bn of net income.
- Flag
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 0.7 years of payThe CEO holds 62,442 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 0.7 years of pay. 4 insiders sold $16.6m in the last six months, against $157k bought.
- Watch
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +0.1% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 1.5% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
8 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Terrence A. Duffy. 8 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Financials.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 63 | 49 | |
| Pay for performance | 92 | 83 | |
| CEO cost | 70 | 67 | |
| Skin in the game | 8 | 51 | |
| Dilution | 49 | 69 | |
| Stable leadership | 85 | 80 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Financial Exchanges & Data, by management score. CME Group is 39th of 72 in its sector.
- 84SPGIS&P Global78
- 201ICEIntercontinental Exchange68
- 221CMECME Group67
- 222CBOECboe Global Markets67
- 230MCOMoody's Corporation66
- 234NDAQNasdaq, Inc.66
- 241MSCIMSCI65
- 366COINCoinbase57
- 404FDSFactSet53
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 23, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Terrence A. Duffy | $23.4m | $38.2m | $3.7m | $181 | $165 | $4.1bn |
| 2024 | — | $23.9m | $26.8m | $3.4m | $151 | $152 | $3.5bn |
| 2023 | — | $23.5m | $34.2m | $3.8m | $131 | $127 | $3.2bn |
| 2022 | — | $22.9m | $12.5m | $3.4m | $100 | $104 | $2.7bn |
| 2021 | — | $22.9m | $26.9m | $3.3m | $129 | $120 | $2.6bn |
The board says pay is tied most to cash earnings. Its other key measures: Cash Earnings, Relative TSR, Net Income Margin.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Terrence A Duffy (Chairman and CEO) held 62,442 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Sep 15, 2026, roughly $17.2m at that filing's price.
4 insiders sold $16.6m in the last six months, against $157k bought.
- BoughtWilliam R ShepardDirector$157kSep 25, 2026
- SoldTerrence A DuffyChairman and CEO$14.6mSep 10, 2026
- SoldHilda Harris PiellSr MD & Chief HR Officer$1.8mMay 18, 2026
- SoldElizabeth A CookDirector$140kSep 14, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Sep 9, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 17, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 11, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 7, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 8, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 7, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 6, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 13, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 30, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 10, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 28, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 14, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Jun 10, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $15.6bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 96% of net income, and $426.7m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $4.7bn | $5.0bn | $5.6bn | $6.1bn | $6.5bn |
| Net income | $2.6bn | $2.7bn | $3.2bn | $3.5bn | $4.1bn |
| Stock-based pay | $75.2m | $84.3m | $82.9m | $89.5m | $94.8m |
| Buybacks | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends | $2.2bn | $2.6bn | $3.2bn | $3.6bn | $3.9bn |
| Diluted shares | 359m | 359m | 360m | 360m | 360m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.