Squire Patton Boggs has published its third annual DC Area Public Company Local Trends Review – 2025 Proxy Season Fall Report, highlighting trends from the most recent proxy statements filed by the 100 largest public companies in the DC area.
Highlights from the report include:
DEI, ESG and Cybersecurity Disclosures
DEI prominence was reduced in proxy statements. 90%+ of the 2025 DC 100 reduced DEI disclosure in comparison to the DC 100’s proxy statements for the 2024 proxy season.
ESG disclosures declined, and cybersecurity disclosures levelled off. In the 2025 proxy season, 46% of the DC 100 provided ESG disclosures in their annual proxy statement, down from 63% in the 2024 proxy season and 74% in the 2023 proxy season.
Board Composition
The 2025 DC 100’s average board size is 9.2 directors, which is consistent with the 9.3 average for the 2024 DC 100 and the 9.4 average for the 2023 DC 100.
The most common board sizes are between seven and 10 directors, comprising 64% of 2025 DC 100 boards.
Compensation
On average, total director compensation of the 2025 DC 100 is up 4.2% to US$243,379 annually.
Cumulatively, the average total CEO compensation of the 2025 DC 100 decreased to US$9.2 million as compared to US$10 million in the 2024 DC 100.
In contrast, the 2025 DC 100’s average CFO compensation increased to US$3.7 million as compared to US$2.8 million in the 2024 DC 100.
The analysis presented in the firm’s report draws on the latest proxy statements from 100 companies filed between October 25, 2024, to July 28, 2025, and corresponding Forms 8-K reporting annual meeting results.
Squire Patton Boggs’ Washington DC office sits at the nexus of law, business and government in the world’s most powerful democracy. The Corporate Governance & Securities Regulation Group provides transactional and governance support to a wide variety of businesses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, enterprise risk management and related securities and financial regulatory compliance.
