By Daniel Cross, business journalist covering regional banks, executive compensation and SEC disclosure for 13 years
Last reviewed: July 20, 2026
First Merchants Corporation reported $2,398,488 in 2025 total compensation for CEO Mark K. Hardwick, compared with $62,811 for its identified median employee. The resulting CEO-to-median-worker pay ratio was 38 to 1, according to the company’s 2026 Proxy Statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
That ratio is lower than the headline gaps disclosed by many large public companies, yet it still combines forms of pay that ordinary salary pages frequently blur together. The CEO figure includes salary, equity, incentives and other reportable compensation; the median-employee calculation uses a company-selected methodology permitted under SEC rules.
What First Merchants Reported to the SEC
First Merchants Corporation is the publicly traded parent of First Merchants Bank. Its 2026 Proxy Statement, filed April 2, 2026, provides the most authoritative public account of compensation paid to the company’s senior executives for work performed in 2025.
The filing says First Merchants reviewed an employee population of 2,011 people as of December 19, 2025, excluding the CEO. The company reported no employees outside the United States, so it made no foreign-employee adjustments when identifying the median worker.
Its calculation used:
- base salary
- overtime
- annual incentive compensation
- annualized pay for permanent employees hired during 2025
After identifying the median employee through that measure, First Merchants calculated the worker’s total compensation under the same SEC disclosure framework used for named executives. The result was $62,811, against the CEO’s $2,398,488.
The ratio was 38:1.
That is a disclosure ratio, not a claim that the typical First Merchants employee earns exactly $62,811 in salary. The median figure can include overtime and incentive pay, while the selected employee represents the midpoint of the company population rather than a standard job title.
How CEO Compensation Was Built
The CEO’s reported total was not simply a paycheck.
First Merchants’ compensation table shows that Mark K. Hardwick’s 2025 Summary Compensation Table total was $2,398,488. The company also calculated $2,252,292 in “compensation actually paid” under the SEC’s separate pay-versus-performance rules.
Those figures differ because SEC reporting applies separate treatments to equity awards and pension-related changes.
First Merchants reported $787,290 in grant-date equity value within the CEO’s 2025 Summary Compensation Table total. After the required adjustments for year-end equity value, prior awards and vesting changes, the company calculated an equity adjustment of $648,980 for the “compensation actually paid” measure.
The filing also says Hardwick received $657,924 under the company’s 2025 short-term management incentive compensation plan.
That means a large portion of executive compensation depended on incentive and stock-based components rather than salary alone.
The headline total is real under SEC rules. It is not the same as cash deposited during the year.
Median Employee Pay Versus Glassdoor Salaries
Glassdoor’s July 2026 First Merchants salary page reports a company-wide range from approximately $39,108 for service associates to $174,116 for vice presidents, based on 452 submitted salaries.
Specific visible estimates include:
| First Merchants role | Glassdoor reported range |
|---|---|
| Bank teller | $36,000–$45,000 |
| Customer service associate | $34,000–$45,000 |
| Teller | $37,000–$45,000 |
| Client relationship representative | $43,000–$58,000 |
| Banking center manager | $67,000–$97,000 |
| Vice president | $137,000–$223,000 |
Source: Glassdoor employee-submitted First Merchants salary data available in July 2026.
First Merchants’ SEC median of $62,811 sits above the visible teller and customer-service ranges but below the midpoint of the banking-center-manager estimate. That is plausible for a workforce containing branch staff, analysts, lenders, technology employees, corporate specialists and managers.
The comparison is imperfect.
Glassdoor figures are voluntary, title-specific estimates that may include bonuses. The SEC median covers the full employee population and follows a methodology selected by First Merchants under federal disclosure rules. The SEC number is stronger for understanding the company-wide midpoint; Glassdoor is more useful for distinguishing individual occupations.
What BLS Banking Pay Data Shows
Federal occupational data offers a third reference point.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook: Tellers reports a $39,340 median annual wage in May 2024. The lowest-paid 10% earned below $31,270, while the highest-paid 10% earned above $48,270.
For loan officers, BLS reported a $74,180 median annual wage in May 2024. Compensation varies widely because some lending roles include commissions or performance incentives.
BLS reported $101,350 as the May 2024 median for financial and investment analysts.
Financial managers sat higher, with a $161,700 median annual wage in May 2024.
| Occupation | BLS May 2024 median |
| Teller | $39,340 |
| Loan officer | $74,180 |
| Financial and investment analyst | $101,350 |
| Financial manager | $161,700 |
Sources: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook profiles for tellers, loan officers, financial analysts and financial managers.
The First Merchants median employee figure of $62,811 lands between the national medians for tellers and loan officers. That placement fits a mixed regional-bank workforce where lower-paid branch jobs coexist with lending, credit, risk and management positions.
It does not reveal how many employees occupy each category.
Where the 38:1 Ratio Misleads
The ratio sounds simpler than the calculation behind it.
The denominator is one selected median employee, not the average compensation of all workers. The numerator includes equity and incentive elements that are uncommon in front-line banking jobs. A change in stock-award valuation can move the CEO total even without an equivalent change in cash salary.
The ratio also excludes differences among employees.
A teller earning near the BLS median of $39,340 would face a much larger gap relative to the CEO than the disclosed 38:1 ratio. A senior vice president earning within Glassdoor’s $137,000 to $223,000 range would face a considerably smaller one.
The analytical value of the ratio lies elsewhere: it gives shareholders a standardized annual comparison and allows movement over time to be tracked.
First Merchants reported CEO Summary Compensation Table totals of:
| Year | CEO reported total |
| 2021 | $1,454,487 |
| 2022 | $1,868,200 |
| 2023 | $1,787,750 |
| 2024 | $2,079,268 |
| 2025 | $2,398,488 |
Source: First Merchants 2026 Proxy Statement, Pay Versus Performance table.
CEO reported compensation increased by $319,220 between 2024 and 2025, based on the two SEC totals. The calculation reflects a rise from $2,079,268 to $2,398,488.
That is approximately a 15.4% increase, calculated from the reported values.
Executive Pay Was Tied to Performance Measures
First Merchants says its executive-pay program uses salary, short-term cash incentives and long-term equity incentives. The proxy identifies earnings per share as the most important financial performance measure used to connect named-executive compensation with 2025 company performance.
The company reported:
- $224.1 million in net income for 2025
- $3.88 in earnings per share
- $201.4 million in net income for 2024
- $3.41 in earnings per share for 2024
First Merchants also presented total shareholder return against the KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index, its named peer group for the pay-versus-performance table. A hypothetical initial $100 investment in First Merchants was shown at $119.34 for 2025, compared with $152.71 for the peer index.
This creates a mixed performance picture.
Net income and earnings per share increased, supporting incentive payouts under the company’s framework. Shareholder return over the disclosed measurement period lagged the selected regional-bank index.
Executive pay therefore cannot be read from one metric alone.
Other Named Executives Also Crossed Seven Figures
First Merchants’ 2026 proxy reported an average 2025 Summary Compensation Table total of $1,287,560 for the four named executives other than the CEO. Their average compensation actually paid was $1,225,325.
The short-term incentive payouts disclosed for individual executives were:
| Named executive | 2025 short-term incentive payout |
| Mark K. Hardwick | $657,924 |
| Michael J. Stewart | $392,840 |
| Michele M. Kawiecki | $295,391 |
| John J. Martin | $225,495 |
| Joseph C. Peterson | $177,197 |
Source: First Merchants 2026 Proxy Statement.
These incentive amounts alone exceed the annual compensation reported for many customer-facing First Merchants positions on Glassdoor. A vice-president title does not necessarily indicate named-executive status, though; banks commonly use vice-president titles across commercial lending, operations, risk and regional management.
Title inflation complicates comparisons.
A Glassdoor “vice president” estimate and an SEC-named executive are not equivalent levels of authority.
Severance and Change-of-Control Protection
Executive compensation extends beyond annual pay.
First Merchants’ proxy lists estimated change-of-control severance benefits of:
- $4,478,772 for Mark K. Hardwick
- $3,161,895 for Michael J. Stewart
- $2,377,548 for Michele M. Kawiecki
- $2,044,860 for John J. Martin
- $1,266,644 for Joseph C. Peterson
The filing says the agreements were not created in response to a known attempt to acquire the company.
Such agreements are designed to protect senior leaders if employment ends under specified circumstances connected to a corporate transaction. They are contingent values, not annual compensation and not automatically paid.
The distinction matters because adding potential severance to yearly earnings would exaggerate what executives received in 2025.
How First Merchants Compares With Occupational Management Pay
The BLS Financial Managers profile reported a $161,700 median annual wage in May 2024. The occupation includes controllers, treasurers, credit managers, cash managers, risk managers and other leaders responsible for an organization’s finances.
Glassdoor’s First Merchants vice-president range of $137,000 to $223,000 overlaps that federal management benchmark.
The CEO’s $2,398,488 total compensation is nearly 14.8 times the BLS financial-manager median, based on the reported figures.
That comparison is descriptive rather than like-for-like. A public-company CEO carries responsibilities for corporate strategy, regulatory oversight, capital allocation, acquisitions and shareholder results that exceed the scope of the median financial-manager role.
Yet the calculation shows where the largest pay jump occurs. The movement from teller to branch manager or analyst is measured in tens of thousands of dollars; movement into the named-executive group brings equity and incentive structures capable of pushing annual totals above $1 million.
Employee Pay and Executive Pay Use Different Systems
Most employees are compensated primarily through wages or salary, plus standard incentives and benefits. Named executives receive a portfolio of compensation mechanisms designed around company performance and retention.
First Merchants’ proxy names:
- base salary
- short-term management incentive compensation
- long-term equity incentive awards
- retirement arrangements
- deferred compensation
- change-of-control agreements
The public First Merchants careers page, by comparison, highlights standard employee benefits including 401(k) matching, health coverage, paid time off, paid parental leave and tuition reimbursement.
These are two compensation architectures inside one employer.
The executive system has greater upside and greater dependence on corporate metrics and equity valuation. The ordinary employee system is more stable but offers far less access to performance-based wealth creation.
That difference, rather than the ratio alone, explains the internal pay gap.
Data Limits
The SEC proxy is authoritative for named-executive compensation and the disclosed median employee. It does not publish pay distributions for every job.
BLS reports national occupational medians, not company-specific First Merchants wages. Regional cost differences and job design can shift actual pay.
Glassdoor relies on voluntary employee submissions. Its sample sizes vary by role, and reported totals may combine salary with bonuses or other compensation.
The data reflects 2024 federal occupational wages, 2025 First Merchants compensation and salary submissions displayed in July 2026. Later hiring adjustments, acquisitions or executive awards may change the comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the First Merchants CEO paid in 2025?
First Merchants reported $2,398,488 in total compensation for CEO Mark K. Hardwick. The SEC pay-versus-performance calculation placed compensation actually paid at $2,252,292.
What was the median First Merchants employee compensation?
$62,811.
What was the CEO pay ratio?
First Merchants reported a 38:1 CEO-to-median-employee compensation ratio for 2025.
Does the CEO figure represent salary only?
No. It includes reportable salary, stock awards, incentive compensation and other components required by the SEC Summary Compensation Table.
How does median employee compensation compare with teller pay?
The First Merchants median employee total of $62,811 is well above the BLS teller median of $39,340. The difference reflects the company’s full workforce, including lending, analytical, technical and management roles, rather than teller jobs alone.
Why is compensation actually paid lower than reported compensation?
SEC pay-versus-performance rules adjust reported equity and pension values using year-end, vesting and other valuation changes. First Merchants reported $2,398,488 in Summary Compensation Table total and $2,252,292 in compensation actually paid for its CEO in 2025.
Did First Merchants outperform its regional-bank peer index?
Not on the cumulative total-shareholder-return measure shown for 2025. The company displayed $119.34 for a hypothetical initial $100 investment, compared with $152.71 for the KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index. Its net income and earnings per share were higher than in 2024, creating a mixed performance record.
The most defensible reading is that First Merchants’ executive gap is moderate by large-public-company standards but substantial inside the bank itself. The 38:1 ratio captures the midpoint comparison; the compensation tables show that equity, incentives and contingent protections create the deeper divide.
