Ecolab management check
ECL · Materials · Specialty Chemicals · CEO Christophe Beck
Filings as of
4 good · 3 to watch · 0 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 $128, against $139 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 0.74 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.8% of net income$17.4m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $2.1bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 1.2 years of payThe CEO holds 72,932.118 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 1.2 years of pay. Both: 4 buyers ($3.7m) and 5 sellers ($10.1m) in six months.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -0.2% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.8% of revenue in the latest year.
- Watch
Is leadership stable?
10 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Christophe Beck. 10 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 Materials.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 40 | 40 | |
| Pay for performance | 87 | 77 | |
| CEO cost | 56 | 40 | |
| Skin in the game | 38 | 38 | |
| Dilution | 53 | 71 | |
| Stable leadership | 75 | 70 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Specialty Chemicals, by management score. Ecolab is 13th of 24 in its sector.
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 20, 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 | Christophe Beck | $17.4m | $25.9m | $4.7m | $128 | $139 | $2.1bn |
| 2024 | — | $16.4m | $30.1m | $4.5m | $113 | $126 | $2.1bn |
| 2023 | — | $15.5m | $22.7m | $5.0m | $95 | $126 | $1.4bn |
| 2022 | — | $8.7m | $2.6m | $4.0m | $69 | $112 | $1.1bn |
| 2021 | — | $8.4m | $10.1m | $3.1m | $109 | $127 | $1.1bn |
The board says pay is tied most to ADJUSTED EPS. Its other key measures: Adjusted diluted earnings per share, Business unit operating income, Business unit sales, Organic return on invested capital, Relative total shareholder return.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Christophe Beck (CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & CEO) held 72,932.118 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Aug 18, 2026, roughly $20.4m at that filing's price.
Both: 4 buyers ($3.7m) and 5 sellers ($10.1m) in six months.
- BoughtMichel D DoukerisDirector$2.0mJun 10, 2026
- BoughtEric Mark GreenDirector$1.0mSep 11, 2026
- BoughtDavid MacLennanDirector$456kMay 13, 2026
- BoughtBenjamin M. ClarkEVP - Global Supply Chain$264kJun 11, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- May 11, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 25, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 23, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 6, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 18, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 9, 2025Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- May 9, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 20, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 26, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 22, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 24, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 10, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 11, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $5.6bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 72% of net income, and $543.8m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $12.7bn | $14.2bn | $15.3bn | $15.7bn | $16.1bn |
| Net income | $1.1bn | $1.1bn | $1.4bn | $2.1bn | $2.1bn |
| Stock-based pay | $89.5m | $87.8m | $95.1m | $134.8m | $136.6m |
| Buybacks | $106.6m | $518.2m | $13.7m | $986.5m | $783.8m |
| Dividends | $566.4m | $602.8m | $617.3m | $664.3m | $753.6m |
| Diluted shares | 289m | 287m | 287m | 287m | 285m |
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.