Intercontinental Exchange management check
ICE · Financials · Financial Exchanges & Data · CEO Mr. Sprecher
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 $150, against $142 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 0.60 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$22.1m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $3.3bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
Insiders are selling10 insiders sold $10.8m in the last six months and none bought. 26 of 27 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Watch
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +0.9% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 1.9% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
2 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Mr. Sprecher. 2 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Watch
Are the books clean?
An annual report was amendedNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021. 4 amended annual reports.
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 | 57 | 49 | |
| Pay for performance | 80 | 83 | |
| CEO cost | 65 | 67 | |
| Skin in the game | — | — | 51 |
| Dilution | 39 | 69 | |
| Stable leadership | 100 | 80 | |
| Clean books | 70 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Financial Exchanges & Data, by management score. Intercontinental Exchange is 37th 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 31, 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 | Mr. Sprecher | $22.1m | $28.6m | $6.6m | $150 | $142 | $3.3bn |
| 2024 | — | $19.5m | $37.6m | $5.6m | $136 | $136 | $2.8bn |
| 2023 | — | $27.6m | $46.1m | $8.9m | $116 | $113 | $2.4bn |
| 2022 | — | $16.7m | −$721k | $4.4m | $91 | $97 | $1.4bn |
| 2021 | — | $14.8m | $27.3m | $4.1m | $120 | $111 | $4.1bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Adjusted EBITDA. Its other key measures: Net Revenues, Adjusted Operating Income, Relative Total Shareholder Return, Strategic MBOs.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
10 insiders sold $10.8m in the last six months and none bought. 26 of 27 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- SoldLynn C MartinPresident, NYSE Group · 10b5-1 plan$2.2mJul 16, 2026
- SoldBenjamin JacksonPresident · 10b5-1 plan$2.1mSep 1, 2026
- SoldDouglas FoleySVP, HR & Administration$1.6mSep 14, 2026
- SoldAndrew J SurdykowskiGeneral Counsel · 10b5-1 plan$1.4mAug 26, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Sep 18, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 20, 2025Annual report amended10-K/A
- Mar 27, 2024Annual report amended10-K/A
- Oct 27, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 6, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 24, 2023Annual report amended10-K/A
- Mar 15, 2023Annual report amended10-K/A
- Mar 17, 2022Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Mar 4, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 22, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 19, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $6.9bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 49% of net income, and $1.1bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $9.2bn | $9.6bn | $9.9bn | $11.8bn | $12.6bn |
| Net income | $4.1bn | $1.4bn | $2.4bn | $2.8bn | $3.3bn |
| Stock-based pay | $188.0m | $155.0m | $257.0m | $231.0m | $238.0m |
| Buybacks | $250.0m | $632.0m | $0 | $0 | $1.3bn |
| Dividends | $747.0m | $853.0m | $955.0m | $1.0bn | $1.1bn |
| Diluted shares | 565m | 561m | 565m | 576m | 575m |
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.