Board member compensations in the lower-middle market:
Investors who take board seats will usually be free. After all, they weren’t specifically invited for their expertise, but allowed on so they can oversee their investment.
Independent board members are often flattered by the request and eager to put it on their resume, and they don’t rely on this income stream. Even so, if you pay your M&A attorney $750/hr (gasp!), your board members should probably be at or above this too, plus it’s nice to award them stock options that can net them a small six-digit figure in a base case scenario.
Note: board compensations tend to be significantly higher at bigger firms and especially public companies. At least that’s my hope if I’m ever invited 😆
