About

Stephen F. O’Byrne is the President of Shareholder Value Advisors. He has more than thirty years of experience as a consultant to companies on compensation, performance measurement and valuation issues.  His publications include:

  • “Measuring and Improving Pay for Performance” in the Handbook of Board Governance, edited by Richard LeBlanc, Wiley (3rd edition, 2024)
  • “Employee Value Added – A New Measure of Gain Sharing between Labor and Capital” in the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance (Spring 2022)
  • “Say on Pay: Is It Needed? Does It Work?” in the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance (Winter 2018)
  • “Three Versions of Perfect Pay for Performance” in the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance (Winter 2014)
  • “Achieving Pay for Performance” in the Conference Board Director Notes (December 2012)
  • “What Investors Need to Know About Executive Pay” (with David Young) in the Journal of Investing (Spring 2010)
  • “Why Executive Pay Is Failing” (with David Young) in the Harvard Business Review (June 2006)
  • EVA® and Value-Based Management (with David Young) McGraw-Hill (2001)  
  • “Executive Compensation” in the Handbook of Modern Finance (1997)

He was previously a Senior Vice President of Stern Stewart & Co. and  a Principal of Towers Perrin. Mr. O’Byrne holds a B.A. degree in political science from the University of Chicago, an M.S. in Mathematics from Northwestern University and a J.D. from the University of Chicago. He is a certified public accountant, a member of the Illinois bar, a member of the New York CFA Society and a former Lecturer in Mathematics at Loyola University of Chicago.