Costco management check
COST · Consumer Staples · Consumer Staples Merchandise Retail · CEO Ron M. Vachris
Filings as of
4 good · 3 to watch · 0 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 $294, against $173 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 0.63 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.2% of net income$13.9m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $8.1bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
Insiders are selling4 insiders sold $4.6m in the last six months and none bought.
- Watch
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +0.0% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.3% of revenue in the latest year.
- Watch
Is leadership stable?
2 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: W. Craig Jelinek, Ron M. Vachris. 9 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 Consumer Staples.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 100 | 31 | |
| Pay for performance | 81 | 84 | |
| CEO cost | 100 | 40 | |
| Skin in the game | — | — | 65 |
| Dilution | 50 | 60 | |
| Stable leadership | 40 | 70 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Consumer Staples Merchandise Retail, by management score. Costco is 7th of 33 in its sector.
- 37WMTWalmart83
- 70PEPPepsiCo78
- 71COSTCostco78
- 259DGDollar General64
- 291TGTTarget Corporation62
- 334DLTRDollar Tree59
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed December 4, 2025. "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 | Ron M. Vachris | $13.9m | $15.6m | $6.3m | $294 | $173 | $8.1bn |
| 2024 | Ron M. Vachris, W. Craig Jelinek | $16.0m | $29.4m | $8.4m | $276 | $155 | $7.4bn |
| 2023 | W. Craig Jelinek | $16.9m | $18.7m | $6.3m | $164 | $129 | $6.3bn |
| 2022 | W. Craig Jelinek | $9.9m | $11.9m | $5.8m | $159 | $128 | $5.8bn |
| 2021 | W. Craig Jelinek | $8.8m | $10.3m | $4.7m | $134 | $185 | $5.0bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Net Sales Adjusted for Changes in Foreign Currencies. Its other key measures: Income Before Income Taxes Adjusted for Changes in Foreign Currencies.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
4 insiders sold $4.6m in the last six months and none bought.
- SoldClaudine AdamoExecutive Vice President$2.0mSep 29, 2026
- SoldWilliam Richard WilcoxExecutive Vice President$1.1mOct 13, 2026
- SoldKenneth D DenmanDirector$847kJun 23, 2026
- SoldCaton FratesSr. Executive Vice President$733kSep 29, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Oct 16, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 20, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 7, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 11, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 3, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 7, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 9, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 22, 2024Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Nov 24, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 20, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 17, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 9, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Jan 21, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $22.9bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 70% of net income, and $3.8bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $195.9bn | $227.0bn | $242.3bn | $254.5bn | $275.2bn |
| Net income | $5.0bn | $5.8bn | $6.3bn | $7.4bn | $8.1bn |
| Stock-based pay | $665.0m | $724.0m | $774.0m | $818.0m | $860.0m |
| Buybacks | $496.0m | $439.0m | $676.0m | $700.0m | $903.0m |
| Dividends | $5.7bn | $1.5bn | $1.3bn | $9.0bn | $2.2bn |
| Diluted shares | 444m | 445m | 444m | 445m | 445m |
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.