CEO Total Pay
$197K
FY2023 Summary Compensation
SAH
2026 data Public-data reference. official source
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC
Open-data reference.
Auto Dealers & Gas Stations · DE · FY2023
CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratio
3:1
Below Average (Scale: 0–1000:1)
CEO Pay
$197K
Median Worker
$65,668
Compensation Pillar
CEO compensation breakdown — pay ratio 3× median worker (Dodd-Frank §953(b) disclosure)
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC, a auto dealers & gas stations company, reported a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 3:1 in FY2023. CEO received total compensation of $197K, while the median employee earned $65,668 annually. This is below the Auto Dealers & Gas Stations industry median of 131:1 across 16 companies. Data sourced from SEC EDGAR proxy (DEF 14A) filings.
CEO Compensation Breakdown — FY2023
Detailed breakdown not available.
| Component | Amount (USD) |
|---|---|
| Base Salary | — |
| Bonus | — |
| Stock Awards | — |
| Option Awards | — |
| Non-Equity Incentive Plan | — |
| Pension Value Change | — |
| Other Compensation | — |
| Total Compensation | $197K |
Source: SEC EDGAR Form DEF 14A — CIK 1043509, FY2023 Summary Compensation Table.
Industry Comparison — Auto Dealers & Gas Stations
This Company's Ratio
3:1
Industry Median Ratio
131:1
Industry Median CEO Pay
$7.5M
This CEO's Pay
$197K
Companies in Industry
16
vs. Industry Median
Below
Understanding This Pay Ratio
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC's CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 3:1 means that earned 3 times more than the company's median employee in FY2023.
The median employee at SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC earned $65,668 annually. At that wage, it would take a median employee approximately 3 years to earn what the CEO earned in a single year.
Pay Ratio
3:1
Below typical industry median
Disclosure Transparency
1.0/5
Limited pay component reporting
Pay-Versus-Performance Disclosure
Under 17 CFR §229.402(v) (the Pay-Versus-Performance rule effective for fiscal years ending after December 16, 2022), issuers must reconcile Compensation Actually Paid (CAP) to Total Shareholder Return (TSR) over a multi-year window. The chart below visualizes the relationship between SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC's reported CAP and TSR for FY2023.
Pay vs Performance — FY2023 (Dodd-Frank §953(a) PvP disclosure)
Pay Composition
Equity-based pay (stock + options) 0.0%
Performance-linked (incentive + bonus) 0.0%
Fixed compensation (base salary) 0.0%
ISS QualityScore and Glass-Lewis voting guidelines weight performance-linked share of pay. The CII (Council of Institutional Investors) recommends ≥50% of CEO pay be tied to multi-year performance metrics.
What This 2023 Filing Tells Us About SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC
According to the 2023 DEF 14A proxy statement filed with the SEC, SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC (SAH, CIK 1043509) reported CEO 's total compensation at $197K. That figure is an aggregate of base salary (N/A). The median employee at the firm — the reference point mandated by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Act — earned $65,668 over the same fiscal year, producing the headline CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 3:1 that this page tracks.
Context matters when reading this ratio. SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC operates in the Auto Dealers & Gas Stations sector and is headquartered in DE. Across the Auto Dealers & Gas Stations industry (SIC 55), 16 SEC-reporting companies disclosed pay ratios in FY2023, with a median of 131:1 and an average of 201:1. Median industry CEO pay was $7.5M, so SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC's $197K sits at or below that typical figure. That comparison is the fastest way to separate "the CEO is paid like peers" from "this company is an outlier."
Finally, a note on what these SEC numbers do and do not include. Total compensation reported under Item 402 of Regulation S-K reflects grant-date fair value for equity awards, not realized pay, so a CEO may eventually cash in more — or less — depending on stock performance and vesting. The pay ratio itself is calculated against a single median employee chosen under rules that allow statistical sampling, and companies may update methodology year to year. This proxy was filed on 2024-03-15; all figures on this page come directly from that public filing and can be verified against the DEF 14A on the SEC EDGAR system.
Key Data — FY2023
- CEO
- Total Compensation
- $197K
- Base Salary
- N/A
- Median Employee Pay
- $65,668
- Pay Ratio
- 3:1
- Filing Date
- 2024-03-15
Company Info
- Ticker
- SAH
- CIK
- 1043509
- Industry
- Auto Dealers & Gas Stations
- SIC Code
- 5500
- State
- DE
Guides
Explore More
Data Source: This data is sourced from SEC EDGAR proxy statement (DEF 14A) filings. PlainCEOPay provides this publicly available information for informational purposes only. Not investment or financial advice. Verify with official SEC filings at sec.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the CEO pay ratio at SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC? ▼
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC's CEO-to-worker pay ratio is 3:1. CEO null earned $197K in FY2023, while the median employee earned $65,668.
How much does SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC's CEO earn? ▼
null, CEO of SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC (SAH), earned total compensation of $197K in fiscal year 2023, according to SEC proxy filings.
How does SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC's pay ratio compare to its industry? ▼
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC's pay ratio of 3:1 is below the Auto Dealers & Gas Stations industry median of 131:1. The industry has 16 companies reporting pay ratios.
Where does SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC's CEO pay data come from? ▼
All executive compensation data is sourced from SEC EDGAR DEF 14A proxy statement filings. Companies are required by the Dodd-Frank Act to disclose CEO-to-median-worker pay ratios annually. PlainCEOPay aggregates this publicly available data for easy comparison.
What is included in null's total compensation? ▼
Total compensation of $197K includes base salary, stock awards, option awards, non-equity incentive plan compensation, pension value changes, and other compensation as reported in the proxy filing summary compensation table.
How long would it take a median SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC employee to earn the CEO's pay? ▼
At a median salary of $65,668, it would take the typical SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC employee approximately 3 years to earn what CEO null earned in a single year ($197K in FY2023).
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau ACS — demographic + housing + income data. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — wage + employment by occupation. bls.gov/oes
- BEA Regional Economic Accounts — GDP + personal income by state/metro. bea.gov/data/regional
- U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns — establishment + employment by industry. census.gov/cbp
- IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) — tax-return aggregate data. irs.gov/statistics
- data.gov — U.S. federal open-data portal — discovery layer for additional federal sources. data.gov
Related
Data sourced from $official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCEOPay Editorial
