Synopsys management check
SNPS · Information Technology · Application Software · CEO Sassine Ghazi
Filings as of
1 good · 2 to watch · 3 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Flag
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $212, against $319 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Watch
Does pay follow performance?
Pay only loosely tracked returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.01 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- n/a
What does the CEO cost owners?
Not enough dataNo pay or net income figure for the latest year.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 2.2 years of payThe CEO holds 91,469 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 2.2 years of pay. 5 insiders sold $59.6m in the last six months and none bought. 7 of 11 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Flag
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +3.3% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 12.7% of revenue in the latest year.
- Flag
Is leadership stable?
3 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: Dr. Aart J. de Geus, Chi-Foon Chan, Sassine Ghazi. 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 Information Technology.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 8 | 33 | |
| Pay for performance | 51 | 87 | |
| CEO cost | — | — | 35 |
| Skin in the game | 32 | 47 | |
| Dilution | 9 | 56 | |
| Stable leadership | 0 | 85 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Application Software, by management score. Synopsys is 72nd of 73 in its sector.
- 72PLTRPalantir Technologies78
- 186FICOFair Isaac70
- 202CRMSalesforce68
- 264ADBEAdobe Inc.64
- 343DDOGDatadog59
- 350INTUIntuit58
- 405TYLTyler Technologies52
- 430ORCLOracle Corporation49
- 445CDNSCadence Design Systems47
- 456ADSKAutodesk44
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed February 19, 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 | Sassine Ghazi | $19.6m | −$15.6m | $4.8m | $212 | $319 | — |
| 2024 | Dr. Aart J. de Geus, Sassine Ghazi | $27.4m | $30.5m | $6.2m | $240 | $232 | — |
| 2023 | Dr. Aart J. de Geus | $12.7m | $34.1m | $7.8m | $214 | $151 | — |
| 2022 | Dr. Aart J. de Geus, Chi-Foon Chan | $10.1m | $10.9m | $4.5m | $138 | $119 | — |
| 2021 | Dr. Aart J. de Geus, Chi-Foon Chan | $10.0m | $34.7m | $5.8m | $156 | $147 | — |
The board says pay is tied most to Revenue. Its other key measures: Compound Annual Growth Rate of Revenue, Non-GAAP Operating Margin, Backlog(1), rTSR(2).
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Sassine Ghazi (PRESIDENT AND CEO) held 91,469 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Oct 15, 2026, roughly $42.3m at that filing's price.
5 insiders sold $59.6m in the last six months and none bought. 7 of 11 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- SoldGeus Aart DeEXECUTIVE CHAIR · 10b5-1 plan$32.5mSep 1, 2026
- SoldSassine GhaziPRESIDENT AND CEO · 10b5-1 plan$18.9mOct 15, 2026
- SoldSudhindra KankanwadiDeputy CFO & CAO$6.0mOct 6, 2026
- SoldShelagh GlaserCFO · 10b5-1 plan$1.5mJun 12, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Aug 12, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 27, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 20, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 19, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 4, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 18, 2025Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Jul 17, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 11, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 12, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 21, 2023Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Sep 1, 2023Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Aug 16, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Apr 20, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $3.0bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 46% of net income, and $3.0bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $4.2bn | $4.6bn | $5.3bn | $6.1bn | $7.1bn |
| Net income | $757.5m | $984.6m | $1.2bn | $2.3bn | $1.3bn |
| Stock-based pay | $345.3m | $459.0m | $563.3m | $692.3m | $893.3m |
| Buybacks | $753.1m | $1.1bn | $1.2bn | $0 | $0 |
| Dividends | — | — | — | — | — |
| Diluted shares | 157m | 156m | 155m | 156m | 166m |
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.