Danaher Corporation management check
DHR · Health Care · Life Sciences Tools & Services · CEO Rainer Blair
Filings as of
4 good · 2 to watch · 1 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Watch
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $119, against $148 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 0.96 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.7% of net income$23.8m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $3.6bn of net income.
- Flag
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 0.4 years of payThe CEO holds 46,948 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 0.4 years of pay. 2 insiders sold $13.0m in the last six months and none bought.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -1.8% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 1.2% of revenue in the latest year.
- Watch
Is leadership stable?
11 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Rainer Blair. 11 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 Health Care.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 26 | 26 | |
| Pay for performance | 98 | 85 | |
| CEO cost | 65 | 44 | |
| Skin in the game | 0 | 46 | |
| Dilution | 73 | 68 | |
| Stable leadership | 70 | 70 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Life Sciences Tools & Services, by management score. Danaher Corporation is 34th of 60 in its sector.
- 104WATWaters Corporation76
- 173IQVIQVIA71
- 218MTDMettler Toledo67
- 297DHRDanaher Corporation62
- 301TMOThermo Fisher Scientific61
- 374CRLCharles River Laboratories56
- 397AAgilent Technologies53
- 422TECHBio-Techne50
- 444ILMNIllumina, Inc.47
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 25, 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 | Rainer Blair | $23.8m | $17.3m | $9.2m | $119 | $148 | $3.6bn |
| 2024 | Rainer Blair | $22.1m | $7.5m | $6.7m | $119 | $129 | $3.9bn |
| 2023 | Rainer Blair | $20.9m | $5.2m | $7.1m | $119 | $126 | $4.8bn |
| 2022 | Rainer Blair | $20.2m | $190k | $6.6m | $120 | $124 | $7.2bn |
| 2021 | Rainer Blair | $17.2m | $59.5m | $6.2m | $149 | $126 | $6.4bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Adjusted EPS. Its other key measures: Absolute TSR, Relative TSR compared to S&P 500 TSR, Adjusted EPS (non-GAAP), Adjusted Free Cash Flow to Adjusted Net Income Ratio (non-GAAP), Core Revenue Growth (non-GAAP).
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Rainer Blair (President & CEO) held 46,948 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Aug 21, 2026, roughly $10.3m at that filing's price.
2 insiders sold $13.0m in the last six months and none bought.
- SoldRainer BlairPresident & CEO$12.7mAug 21, 2026
- SoldAlan G SpoonDirector$237kMay 1, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Oct 13, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 3, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 7, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 10, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 6, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 31, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 24, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 20, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 11, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 20, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 14, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 2, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 7, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $13.1bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 51% of net income, and $1.4bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $24.8bn | $26.6bn | $23.9bn | $23.9bn | $24.6bn |
| Net income | $6.4bn | $7.2bn | $4.8bn | $3.9bn | $3.6bn |
| Stock-based pay | $184.0m | $295.0m | $306.0m | $288.0m | $298.0m |
| Buybacks | — | $0 | $0 | $6.0bn | $3.1bn |
| Dividends | $742.0m | $818.0m | $821.0m | $768.0m | $878.0m |
| Diluted shares | 737m | 737m | 743m | 737m | 716m |
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.