About

Mike is a Managing Director with Pearl Meyer in the Los Angeles and San Francisco offices. Mr. Esser has more than 25 years’ experience as an advisor to Boards and senior management in executive and Board compensation, compensation strategy, and annual and long-term incentive/equity plan design. His consulting experience covers a variety of industries and company organizational and developmental stages, including startup/pre-IPO, privately-held, public, cooperatives, and non-profit organizations.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Esser was a consultant and senior manager with Arthur Andersen LLP. Previously, Mr. Esser was an executive compensation consultant and manager with Hewitt Associates, and managed business development for Hewitt’s annual compensation survey business and comanaged that firm’s Total Compensation Measurement Database.

He is a frequently published author on compensation topics and a sought-after speaker at numerous forums including the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), Directors Forum, NYSE Governance Services/Corporate Board Member West Coast Boardroom Summit, USC Corporate Governance Summit, the Forum for Corporate Directors, and the Corporate Directors Group.

Mr. Esser received his B.B.A. with a concentration in Finance from Loyola University of Chicago. He also holds the Certified Executive Compensation Professional (CECP) designation through the
WorldatWork Society of Certified Professionals.