Every public company in our money rankings has a CEO, and every one of those CEOs gets paid partly in cash, partly in equity. We pulled three fiscal years of both — straight from SEC proxy statements, SEDAR+ management circulars, and ASX remuneration reports, not secondary aggregators — and checked it against how each stock actually performed over the same stretch. The findings below include real inconsistencies we're not smoothing over: different fiscal year-ends, different currencies, mid-window CEO transitions at three companies, and one company that legally discloses no individual CEO figure at all.
The Teaser: Last Filing Year, At a Glance
Most recent disclosed fiscal year per company, in the currency each one actually reports in — full three-year detail below.
| Company | FY | Salary | Bonus | Equity | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definium | FY25 | $655,000 | $378,263 | $11,719,750 | $12,767,442 |
| AtaiBeckley | FY25 | $629,200 | $449,878 | $3,316,737 | $4,420,555 |
| Helus Pharma¹ | FY26 | $1,026,163 | $302,000 | $19,457,654 | $21,809,567 |
| GH Research² | FY25 | aggregate, board + all execs | — | — | $9,200,000 |
| Compass Pathways | FY25 | $647,278 | $388,367 | $1,036,603 | $2,104,710 |
| Bright Minds | FY25 | C$0 | C$0 | C$120,000 | C$120,000 |
| Entropy Neurodynamics | FY25 | A$250,000 | A$62,500 | A$17,073 | A$402,943 |
| Optimi Health³ | FY24 | C$424,985 | C$0 | C$0 | C$424,985 |
| Rhelion Life Sciences | FY25 | C$330,000 | C$0 | n/d | C$330,000 |
| Revive Therapeutics | FY24 | C$360,000 | C$0 | C$0 | C$360,000 |
¹ Combined across three people who held the CEO title in FY26 (Drysdale, So, Cola) — see detail below. ² Not CEO-specific; only aggregate board+executive pay is disclosed. ³ Combined across the Feb 2024 CEO transition (Ciprick → Stevens).
Does Equity Pay Actually Track the Stock?
Where more than one person held the CEO title in a company's most recent fiscal year, the dot is the combined total awarded to whoever held the office. GH Research is plotted as a diamond since its figure is aggregate board-plus-executive pay, not CEO-specific. Rhelion, Optimi, and Revive aren't plotted at all — none has both a dollar-valued equity figure and a reliable matched-year stock return on the record, and estimating either would mean showing a number nobody actually disclosed.
No visible correlation, in either direction. Helus Pharma's CEO office collected $19.5 million in combined equity in a fiscal year the stock fell 24%. Bright Minds' CEO took a shrinking equity grant three years running while the stock ran over 50x in the third. The two aren't related — grant-date fair value is set at the start of a performance period, not paid out for the results at the end of one. On this evidence, knowing what a CEO was awarded in equity this year tells you almost nothing about what the stock will do that same year. It may say more about board judgment calls made under pressure — retention grants, replacement-CEO packages — than about pay-for-performance design.
Company-by-Company Detail
Three fiscal years where available, fewer where a company went public, merged, or changed CEOs more recently.
Definium Therapeutics — Nasdaq: DFTX
Formerly MindMed (renamed Jan 2026, same entity). CEO: Robert Barrow, continuously since June 2021 — no transition across this window.
| Fiscal Year | Salary | Cash Bonus¹ | Stock Awards | Option Awards | Total | Stock Return (FY) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | $598,750 | $318,725² | $1,212,000 | $0 | $2,143,133 | +47.0% |
| FY2024 | $623,500 | $359,216² | $0 | $1,672,000 | $2,669,010 | +92.3% |
| FY2025 | $655,000 | $378,263² | $11,719,750 | $0 | $12,767,442 | +77.6% |
¹ Reported as "Non-Equity Incentive Plan" cash, not a discretionary bonus — the Bonus column was $0 all three years. ² Paid the following fiscal year, per proxy footnote. 3-yr cumulative stock return: +437.8%. Sources: DEF 14A filed 4/26/24, 4/23/25, 4/27/26 (SEC EDGAR CIK 1813814).
AtaiBeckley — Nasdaq: ATAI
Formerly ATAI Life Sciences (public since June 2021); merged with Beckley Psytech Nov 2025. Florian Brand (co-founder) was sole CEO through May 2024, Co-CEO through Dec 2024. Srinivas Rao (former CSO) was Co-CEO from June 2024, sole CEO since Jan 2025. Now being acquired by Eli Lilly.
| Fiscal Year | CEO | Salary | Bonus | Stock Awards | Option Awards | Total | Stock Return (FY) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | Brand | $550,000 | $233,750 | $826,000 | $1,408,000 | $3,027,325 | −47.0% |
| FY2024 | Brand (Co-CEO) | $550,000 | $247,500 | $599,478 | $1,973,544 | $3,375,465 | −5.7% |
| FY2024 | Rao (Co-CEO) | $568,333 | $255,777 | $0 | $2,628,100 | $3,462,560 | −5.7% |
| FY2025 | Rao | $629,200 | $449,878 | n/d | $3,316,737 | $4,420,555 | +207.5% |
3-yr cumulative stock return (12/30/22→12/31/25): +53.8% — climbing further to roughly +169% at the $7.15 price the Lilly deal news produced (7/16/26). No Pay-vs-Performance/TSR table was included in these proxies. Sources: DEF 14A filed 4/22/24, 4/21/25 (ATAI Life Sciences), 4/22/26 (AtaiBeckley Inc.), SEC EDGAR.
Compass Pathways — Nasdaq: CMPS
CEO: Kabir Nath, since Aug 1, 2022, succeeding co-founder George Goldsmith. No transition across this window — the only one of the six Nasdaq-listed names that still files standard 10-K/DEF 14A as a US domestic filer despite UK incorporation.
| Fiscal Year | Salary | Bonus | Stock Awards | Option Awards | Total | Stock Return (FY) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | $594,500 | $338,900 | $273,420 | $1,241,783 | $2,824,757 | +9.0% |
| FY2024 | $628,352 | $267,139 | $1,043,280 | $2,364,340 | $4,339,303 | −56.8% |
| FY2025 | $647,278 | $388,367 | $331,200 | $705,403 | $2,104,710 | +82.5% |
3-yr cumulative stock return: −14.1%. Largest option grant (FY24, $2.36M) landed in the worst stock year; smallest (FY25, $705K) landed in the best — grant-date value is set going into the year, not a reward for it. Sources: DEF 14A filed 4/28/25, 4/15/26, SEC EDGAR CIK 1816590.
Helus Pharma — Nasdaq: HELP
Formerly Cybin Inc. (CYBN). Fiscal year ends March 31. Three CEOs cycled through FY2026 alone: Doug Drysdale (founder-CEO, through Sept 2025), Eric So (interim, Sept 2025–Feb 2026), Michael Cola (Feb–Apr 2026, terminated by the board). Current CEO Michael Halstead started Aug 2026 — after FY2026 closed, so he appears in none of these three years.
| Fiscal Year | CEO | Salary | Bonus | Other¹ | Equity Awards | Total | Stock Return (FY) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | Drysdale | $502,700 | $262,500 | $0 | $757,398 | $1,522,598 | +7.5% |
| FY2025 | Drysdale | $682,500 | $262,500 | $0 | $1,815,807 | $2,760,807 | −59.7% |
| FY2026 | Drysdale (to 9/2) | $284,375 | $0 | $1,023,750 | $0 | $1,308,125 | −24.3% |
| FY2026 | So (interim) | $636,500 | $302,000 | $0 | $12,631,539 | $13,570,039 | −24.3% |
| FY2026 | Cola (partial) | $105,288 | $0 | $0 | $6,826,115 | $6,931,403 | −24.3% |
¹ Drysdale's FY26 "Other" is severance, not comp for service. Stock prices split-adjusted for the Sept 2024 1-for-38 reverse split. Equity grant-date values converted from CAD to USD at 1.3939 (Bank of Canada, 3/31/26). Sources: Management Information Circular dated Aug 18, 2026, filed as SEC Form 6-K (CIK 1833141).
Bright Minds Biosciences — Nasdaq/CSE: DRUG
CEO: Ian McDonald, since June 2020, no transition. Fiscal year ends Sept 30. Figures in CAD as disclosed. Received zero cash salary or bonus in any of the three years — 100% of disclosed pay was RSU grants, made in his capacity as a director.
| Fiscal Year | Salary | Bonus | RSU Awards | Total | Stock Return (FY) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | C$0 | C$0 | C$626,178 | C$626,178 | −74.0% |
| FY2024 | C$0 | C$0 | C$213,239 | C$213,239 | −26.9% |
| FY2025 | C$0 | C$0 | C$120,000 | C$120,000 | +5,085% |
CEO pay fell every year while it stayed 100% equity-based — and RSUs granted in the depressed FY23/FY24 years (stock near $1–6) would have appreciated enormously by the FY25 spike, a dynamic grant-date fair value doesn't capture. 1-for-5 reverse split July 2023; prices split-adjusted. Sources: Management Information Circulars, Ex. 99.3 to Form 6-K filed 2024-05-17 and 2026-06-03, SEC EDGAR CIK 1827401.
Entropy Neurodynamics — ASX: ENP
One continuous ASX entity, renamed twice — Exopharm → Tryptamine Therapeutics → Entropy Neurodynamics — after acquiring Tryp Therapeutics via reverse merger (May 2024). CEO Jason Carroll since that transaction. Only one clean full-year figure exists — the entity, ticker, and CEO all changed in the same 12-month window, so a real 3-year comparable series doesn't exist yet.
| Fiscal Year | Salary & Fees | Bonus | Super/Other | Equity (Options) | Total | Stock Return (FY) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 (10-mo stub) | A$207,583 | A$0 | A$22,834 | A$8,153 | A$238,570 | −27.3% |
| FY2025 (full 12mo) | A$250,000 | A$62,500 | A$62,552 | A$17,073 | A$402,943 | +50.0% |
FY2024 blends a pre-merger US entity with the post-merger ASX entity — flagged as non-comparable to a normal fiscal year. No FY2026 actuals yet. Source: Tryptamine Therapeutics Ltd Annual Report, ASX announcement, Aug 29 2025.
Optimi Health — CSE: OPTI / Nasdaq: OPTH
Bill Ciprick (co-founder) was CEO Sept 2021–Feb 2024. Dane Stevens (co-founder, CMO since 2020) became CEO Oct 2024. Fiscal year ends Sept 30. Venture-issuer disclosure rules — no dollar value given for options, only unit counts.
| Fiscal Year | CEO | Salary | Bonus | Equity ($) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2022 | Ciprick | C$350,000 | C$0 | C$0 | C$350,000 |
| FY2023 | Ciprick | C$350,000 | C$0 | C$0 | C$350,000 |
| FY2024 | Ciprick (to Feb) / Stevens (CMO) | C$347,985 / C$77,000 | C$0 | C$0 | C$347,985 / C$77,000 |
No stock options, RSUs, or DSUs were granted to the CEO in any of these three years — the only CEO equity award on record at all is a one-time 2021 hiring grant. FY2025 comp not yet disclosed (circular expected ahead of Aug 2026 AGM). No per-fiscal-year stock return available — a 1-for-30 consolidation (Sept 2025) makes long-run price comparison unreliable without further adjustment, so it's omitted here rather than estimated. Source: Form 51-102F6V Statement of Executive Compensation, filed June 23, 2025.
Rhelion Life Sciences — CSE: RHEL
Formerly Red Light Holland; renamed after merging with Filament Health, April 2026. CEO Todd Shapiro throughout, no transition — the merger made Filament's Ben Lightburn President, not CEO. Fiscal year ends March 31. Venture-issuer disclosure — no dollar fair value given for options/RSUs, only unit counts and strike prices.
| Fiscal Year | Salary | Bonus | Other | Total (cash) | Stock, FYE close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | C$325,000 | C$0 | C$13,200 | C$338,200 | n/a |
| FY2024 | C$330,000 | C$110,000 | C$90,488¹ | C$530,488¹ | C$0.06 |
| FY2025 | C$330,000 | C$0 | C$0 | C$330,000 | C$0.03 |
¹ FY2024 "Other" was restated from C$42,088 (as originally filed) to C$90,488 in the 2026 circular — a C$35,200 unexplained upward revision, flagged rather than resolved. No total-return figure given: a May 2026 share consolidation (ratio not disclosed) plus roughly 170 million shares issued to Filament holders makes pre/post-merger prices non-comparable without an adjustment we couldn't confirm. Sources: 2024 and 2026 Management Information Circulars, redlight.co.
Revive Therapeutics — CSE: RVV
CEO: Michael Frank, since Dec 2019, no transition. Fiscal year ends June 30. Fully cash comp, no equity valued in any of the three years' Summary Compensation Table.
| Fiscal Year | Salary | Bonus | Equity | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2022 | C$360,901 | C$0 | C$0 | C$360,901 |
| FY2023 | C$360,000 | C$0 | C$0 | C$360,000 |
| FY2024 | C$360,000 | C$0 | C$0 | C$360,000 |
Held pre-existing options from 2019–2020 (mostly deep out-of-the-money) but received no new grants valued in these three years. Reported FYE2024 closing price contradicts itself within the same circular (C$0.10 on one page vs. C$0.01 on another) — flagged, not resolved; no reliable FY2022/FY2023 prices found. A proposed up-to-20:1 consolidation's implementation status is unconfirmed. Source: Feb 6, 2025 Management Information Circular, revivethera.com.
GH Research — Nasdaq: GHRS
As a foreign private issuer, GH Research files Form 20-F, not a proxy statement — and discloses compensation only in aggregate, for the full board plus all executive officers combined. There is no individual CEO salary, bonus, or equity figure anywhere in these filings. Theis Terwey was CEO through Sept 2024; Velichka Valcheva since.
| Fiscal Year | CEO (majority of year) | Aggregate Comp, Board + All Execs | Stock Return (FY) |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2022 | Terwey | $1.2M | −58.3% |
| FY2023 | Terwey | $2.0M | −40.3% |
| FY2024 | Terwey → Valcheva | $3.4M | +20.7% |
| FY2025 | Valcheva | $9.2M | +81.4% |
No cash/equity split disclosed. This is the only company of the ten where an individual CEO figure genuinely does not exist in the public record — not a research gap. IPO June 25, 2021. Sources: Form 20-F, Item 6.B, filed 2023–2026, SEC EDGAR CIK 1855129.
How to Read This
Every figure above traces to a specific filing — DEF 14A / 10-K proxy statements for the four US domestic filers, Form 20-F for foreign private issuers (which disclose compensation differently), and Management Information Circulars for the Canadian and Australian names. That produces real inconsistencies, and we're showing them rather than smoothing them over:
- Fiscal years differ. Most are calendar-year; Helus Pharma, Rhelion, and Bright Minds run non-calendar fiscal years (Mar 31 or Sep 30 close) — each company's table uses its own FY, labeled explicitly.
- Currencies differ. Figures are shown in the currency each company actually reports in (USD, CAD, or AUD) — no silent conversion in the tables. The correlation chart converts everything to USD (rates noted there) since cross-company comparison requires one unit.
- Some companies don't disclose an individual CEO figure at all. GH Research, as a foreign private issuer, only reports aggregate board + executive pay under a Form 20-F — there is no individual CEO line to pull. We report what's actually disclosed rather than estimate a number that doesn't exist.
- Several companies changed CEOs mid-window — AtaiBeckley, Helus Pharma, and Optimi Health each had a transition inside the last three fiscal years. Every executive who held the title is shown, by name, for the year(s) they held it.
This is business and compensation reporting, not investment advice. Figures are drawn directly from each company's own disclosures; where a figure could not be verified or simply doesn't exist in the public record, we've said so rather than estimated one.
Sources
- SEC EDGAR — Definium Therapeutics (CIK 1813814), AtaiBeckley/ATAI Life Sciences (CIK 1840904 / 2081043), Compass Pathways (CIK 1816590), Helus Pharma/Cybin (CIK 1833141), Bright Minds Biosciences (CIK 1827401), GH Research (CIK 1855129) — DEF 14A, 10-K, Form 20-F, and Form 6-K filings, 2023–2026
- SEDAR+ — Optimi Health Corp., Rhelion Life Sciences Corp. (f/k/a Red Light Holland), Revive Therapeutics Ltd. Management Information Circulars
- ASX announcements platform — Tryptamine Therapeutics Ltd / Entropy Neurodynamics Annual Report and Remuneration Report
- Altitude: The Psychedelic Money Rankings
- Altitude: Eli Lilly Is Buying AtaiBeckley for Up to $3.8 Billion