For Healthcare CFOs, Exit Experience Means Higher Pay and Expanded Expectations

Healthcare and Life Sciences companies are placing increasingly higher value on leaders with a track record of successfully navigating multiple exits. As highlighted in JM Search’s 2025 Healthcare CFO Compensation & Insights Study, companies are paying more to recruit and retain these CFOs and, in many cases, putting them in charge of multiple functions.  

The study reveals the following insights around multi-time CFO compensation: 

• Among CFOs who had experienced two or more exits, 24% had base salaries over $400,000. For CFOs with only one or no exit experience, only 13.3% crossed that same base salary threshold.  

• Equity grants followed a similar pattern. 20% of CFOs with experience overseeing multiple exits received 1.5 points of equity or more, while only 14% of CFOs with one or no exits were granted the same share.  

These figures demonstrate that in a tighter-margin, longer-hold market, leveraging all aspects of compensation, including equity and base salary, are essential for attracting and retaining experienced CFOs. In addition to increased compensation, more exit experience also often correlates with broader responsibilities.  

CFOs often start their careers with a deep focus on financial stewardship of the business, but as they gain exit experience, the scope of their roles has a tendency to expand to broader operational and strategic oversight. This includes responsibilities such as leading HR, legal and compliance, or even operations, which reach beyond traditional financial oversight. 

These insights are just one element of JM Search’s 2025 Healthcare CFO Compensation & Insights Study’s comprehensive look at evolving priorities, compensation structures, and market pressures financial leaders face in investor-backed, private, and public Healthcare and Life Sciences companies. The report illustrates not only year-over-year trends in the sector but how healthcare and life sciences finance executives differ from their counterparts in other industries. To access more data on trends for Healthcare and Life Sciences CFOs, download the full report here.