Do REI members of the board of directors deserve their compensation?

 The information is posted here is from REI's website followed by a personal  commentary. It starts with their usual self-congratulating, laudatory blah, blah, without any real info about the supposed work they perform for a quite hefty $ amount.

"REI’s director compensation is a cash-based program designed to attract highly qualified co-op members with the leadership, business acumen, and character to guide REI while aligning with the co-op’s values. The Board Chair, Vice Chair, and chairs of the three standing committees (Audit & Finance, Compensation, and Nominating & Governance) receive additional compensation due to the increased responsibilities of their roles.

Directors$125,000 per year
Board ChairAdditional $50,000 per year, so $175,000
Board Vice ChairAdditional $25,000 per year, so $150,000
Committee ChairAdditional $25,000 per year, so $150,000
Travel ExpensesReimbursed for reasonable expenses

*Effective as of January 1, 2022. No changes were made to the director compensation during the bi-annual review completed in 2024."

The very self-satisfied directors, on this page.

Chris Carr is Board Chair but also Chair of the Executive and Compensation Committee. Does that mean he gets an additional $25,000 to reach $200,000 per year? 

His linkedin account tells us he just joined another board, at Valvoline Inc ($236K?), complementing Hilton ($334K?), Bridgestone ($180K?). The ? refers to data found on line but not further verified. How much total is he making with directors compensation? How much time is he really working for REI to justify $200K?

Ted Philip is Chair of Audit & Finance Committee, so $150,000 per year, for how many hours?

Doug Mack, Chair nominating & Governance Committee, so $150,000 per year, for how many hours?

The rest of them get $125,000 per year.

How many hours do they spend on REI business to justify this compensation? They don't spend any on the 2026 annual meeting that lasted about 10 minutes! What about the rest of the time during the year? How many meetings? How many hours? Is a log kept? And have those hours been positive for the Coop? The financial results given below are not convincing. Quite the contrary.

They tell this level of compensation was determined in 2022 and confirmed in 2024 but we know REI finances took a serious hit starting in 2022 and now in march 2026 they just announced wages and benefits cuts for the employees: what about their own compensation, should'nt it be seriously downsized?

See the October 2, 2024 article by Alex Halverson in the Seattle Times. 

According to the research I did the last profitable year was 2021: + 97 million

2022: -164,7 million

2023: - 311 million

2024: - 156,4 million

A very interesting conversation on Reddit (once again) about The financial health of REI: 2025 and forward. 9 months ago (july/august 2025?)

and also this one but they remain buried in Reddit, don't translate into a public challenge to the board.

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