Thelander PC Digest: August 2025

CEO Compensation in Digital Health, Biotech and Tech

“When you’re building a company, there’s always the question of how much should you pay yourself. The best way to answer that question? Look at actual data.” – Halle Tecco

We teamed up with Rock Health Founder, Halle Tecco, to look at what digital health CEO compensation looks like in 2025, how it has changed over the last few years, and how it compares to tech and biotech. You can read Halle’s full blog post here.  

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Now, let’s dig into the data. 

Digital Health CEO Compensation

CEO cash compensation depends on how much capital you raise. “Early-stage” companies are defined here as those that raised less than $15 million, and “Mid-stage” companies as those that have raised between $15 and $50 million. 

Key Takeaways:

Compensation for early-stage (less than $15 million) CEOs in the digital health field stayed relatively steady from 2021 through 2023 (ranging from $225,000 to $235,000) before dropping in 2024 to $197,500 and edging up slightly (but not back to its previous levels) this year. 

Mid-stage ($15 – $50 million) CEO compensation rose substantially between 2021 and 2024 from $275,000 to $362,500, and dropped slightly in 2025 to $350,000. 

The gap between what early and mid stage CEOs are making is widening. In 2021, the median salary difference was $50,000. In 2025, it’s nearly tripled to around $150,000. 

Equity vs. Cash Compensation

Salary is just one piece of the compensation equation. As Halle said, “most founders take far less cash than they could make elsewhere because they’re earning equity they hope will be worth something down the line.” 

Key Takeaways:

 Early stage founder CEOs have 25.7% at the median in equity, compared to 14.7% at the mid-stage. 

Hired CEOs have 10% in non-founder equity at early-stage companies, which falls to 6% as they reach mid-stage. 

Equity remains the “primary lever for wealth creation, and the biggest reason to bet on a high-growth company in healthcare.” 

CEO Compensation in Digital Health vs. Tech vs. Biotech

With that in mind, how does digital health CEO compensation stack up to other sectors? 

Key Takeaways:

 At the early stage, digital health CEOs earn the lowest median salary at $204,500, compared to $225,000 in biotech and $250,000 in tech. 

By the mid-stage, that flips: digital health CEOs earn $350,000 – more than their counterparts in tech ($260,000) and only slightly behind biotech ($363,750). 

Compensation is “always a moving target, but seeing real data helps founders and operators calibrate expectations and make smarter decisions.” To see how your current compensation stacks up to real-time, vetted market data, and to access more data like this, participate in the Thelander Private Company Compensation Survey. 

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