At AI startups, a bigger salary doesn't mean bigger equity
At AI startups, a bigger salary doesn't mean bigger equity
Author: Ashley Neville
Read time: 1 minute
Published date: June 17, 2026
At most startups, exec comp follows a familiar logic. Higher salary, higher equity.
At AI startups between Seed and Series B are breaking that pattern. Executives taking the highest salaries are landing in the lowest equity quintiles. Executives with modest salaries are getting the most equity. The relationship has inverted.
This finding is part of the newly launched Total Comp Scouting Report for founders hiring their executive teams. It's part of Carta's official sponsorship of the Golden State Warriors 2026 NBA Draft and includes brand new charts and analysis:
- Cumulative cash raised at round and at CxO hire
- Changes to median salary and equity by level, including AI/ML engineers
- Employee Stock Option Pool size by stage
- Distribution of salary and equity by CxO role and stage
- Prevalence of equity types and terms
- Value of executed employee tender offers
And for data visualization enthusiasts, it might be the most beautiful report we've ever released.
Go deeper with new content from Carta's Data Insights Team:
The Total Comp Scouting Report
This special edition of the 2026 Carta Total Compensation Report, The Total Comp Scouting Report, is built to give founders and CFOs real offer data from over 900,000 employees in the private markets.
How the Best Data Builds the Best Teams
Author: Ashley Neville
Ashley Neville leads strategy for the Insights team at Carta, bringing 15 years of experience in the data industry. A former evangelist for Tableau and Salesforce, she is an expert in data culture and literacy who is passionate about helping people harness the power of data. Ashley studied economics at Georgetown.