2026–2027 Salary Benchmarks
How PE-backed companies are paying executive and leadership talent in 2026–2027.
Explore the data →Where compensation stands this year as companies do more with less
As teams get leaner but keep the mandate (or in some cases, accelerate the mission), are they actually saving costs or just paying it out differently, in bigger checks to fewer people?
Some pay signals and trends we’ve been seeing suggest it’s the latter: that the market isn’t exactly paying less for leadership, but paying more for less of it, and expecting more in return.
That’s reshaping who gets rewarded and why. Here’s a summary of what we’re seeing.
Key market shifts shaping compensation:
- 01AI fluency is increasing base pay across every function, not just technical roles.
Finance, go-to-market, and HR leaders who can point to AI workflows that change how their function runs and make their roles more efficient are capturing 10–15% higher base pay packages.
- 02Comp is consolidating into fewer, bigger packages.
Companies are paying one senior IC/leadership hire what they used to pay three mid-level hires, and betting on the person who can cover the full scope alone.
- 03Functional leaders are being measured by revenue impact, not just functional performance.
Product, GTM, ops, and finance leaders who can tie their work to revenue are seeing comp often drive up to 15% premiums.
- 04Wall Street just reset the price of AI talent for everyone, not just the companies going public.
SpaceX priced its IPO in June, and Anthropic and OpenAI are both on the same track. When public markets pay premium valuations for AI-native companies, AI-native Engineering talent is repriced everywhere, including PE-backed companies.
- 05Longer hold periods are changing the base/equity split.
Some companies are shifting weight toward base as a hedge against equity that’s further out and less certain. Others are doubling down on equity to keep people through the longer runway. The split looks different depending on which bet a company is making.
- 06Executives want guaranteed upside, not equity alone.
Senior leaders are negotiating for carveouts, guaranteed proceeds, and clearer liquidity paths, balancing the upside of equity with the reality that value-creation timelines can shift and returns may take longer than expected.
So what’s the bottom line?
Compensation has always moved. Employer’s market, employee’s market, back again, that’s normal, and it’s happened before. What’s different this time is that AI is doing two things at once… It’s:
- leveling the playing field (anyone can be “technical” now), and
- throwing the whole system out of whack in the process.
It’s one trend wearing two unique faces.
How to use this guide
Every band reflects base compensation only (USD). On-target earnings (OTE), variable compensation, equity, and bonuses are not included. Data is presented at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles and represents an aggregate view of Hunt Club’s 2026 private equity-backed search data, combined with year-to-date market trends.
Actual compensation will vary based on industry, market dynamics, location, company stage, total rewards structure, and the individual’s experience and scope (e.g. emerging leader vs. seasoned executive). Use this data as a starting point to inform hiring strategy, not define it.
Tier 1: NYC · SF Bay Area · Seattle · Los Angeles
Tier 2: Boston · Chicago · Austin · Denver · Washington DC · San Diego · Portland · Philadelphia · Sacramento
PE Market Segments
This framework helps determine company stage and provides a point of reference for aligning leadership hiring with the operational demands of each stage.
| Segment | Revenue | EBITDA | Typical EV | Headcount | Ownership Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micro-Cap | Under $25M | Under $5M | Under $25M | Under 150 | Founder-led, family-owned, or bootstrapped — Independent Sponsors, Search Funds, small pre-PE growth equity |
| Lower Middle Market | $25M – $100M | $5M – $25M | $25M – $150M | 150 – 500 | First institutional ownership — Lower Middle Market PE, family offices, growth equity |
| Middle Market | $100M – $500M | $25M – $100M | $150M – $500M | 500 – 2,500 | Professionally managed, fully institutionalized control — Core Middle Market PE, growth equity |
| Upper Middle Market | $500M – $1B | $100M – $500M | $500M – $2B | 2,500 – 5,000 | Institutional corporate structure, global footprints — Upper Middle Market and Large-Cap PE |
| Large-Cap | Over $1B | Over $500M | Over $2B | 5,000+ | Publicly traded or owned by large-cap and mega-fund PE |
All data
Every role across company scale for the selected tier.
Each cell shows one role at one company scale. The large bold figure is the median — the 50th percentile of base salary for that specific cross-section. The smaller figure beneath it is the 25th–75th percentile range.
We know compensation is a dynamic challenge.
Every company’s version of this pay is going to look different, and it’ll keep shifting. This guide is meant to give you somewhere to start based off real signal. If you need something more specific to your portfolio or your leadership bench, that’s exactly where Hunt Club can help.