Executive Compensation at the American Investment Council (2022)

The American Investment Council (AIC) is a very small tax-exempt, non-profit 501 (c) 3 “lobbying, advocacy, and research (the organization paid an outside vendor $1.1 million in 2022 for research) organization” based in Washington, DC governed by 26 voting members (25 of whom are independent) of its governing body. 22 of the 26 (85%) are male while 4 of the 26 (15%) are female.  

AIC reported total revenue of $22 million in 2022 (compared to $18 million in 2021), almost of all of which came from membership dues.

Expenses totaled $21 million in 2022 and can be categorized as follows:  compensation ($10 million), advertising and promotion ($1 million), public affairs, government affairs consultants, and lobbying ($6 million), fees for other services – primarily purchased research ($1 million), and office-related expenses ($3 million).

18 employees received $10 million in compensation, which equates to an average compensation of $580,000 each. However, the Form 990 reports that only eleven (11) employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the seven (7) most highly compensated reported to be:

• $3,816,134: Drew Maloney
• $1,212,227:  Bradley Bailey
• $  836,416:  Emily Schillinger
• $  779,621:  Rebekah Jurata
• $  574,103:  Michael Lukso
• $  567,807:  Jamal Hagler
• $  481,157:  Negra Husikic

The seven (7) most highly compensated employees received $8 million in compensation (39% of the employees received 79% of total compensation) while the remaining 11 employees received $2 million in compensation.  4 of the 11 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation while 7 received less than $100,000.

The two most highly compensated employees (representing 11% of total employees) received about 50% of total compensation annually.

It is also interesting to  note that Drew Maloney went from receiving less than $200,000 in 2016 and 2017  to $735,000 in 2018 and nearly $2 million in 2019 to nearly $4 million in 2021 and 2022.  Why his compensation was increased more than 20 fold in 5 years is unclear (given that revenue didn’t really increase until 2020 and even then the increase was not substantial).

The 7 most highly compensated employees in 2022 received $25 million in compensation from 2016-2022 (note:  highly compensated employees in 2016-2021 but not in 2022 are not included in the list below):

Drew Maloney:  Total Compensation 2016-2022:  $13 million

• 2022:  $3,816,134
• 2021:  $3,925,634
• 2020:  $2,354,486
• 2019:  $1,931,453
• 2018:  $  735,068
• 2017:  $  176,428
• 2016:  $  199,011

Bradley Bailey:  Total Compensation 2019-2022:  $3 million

• 2022:  $1,212,227
• 2021:  $  766,701
• 2020:  $  641,151
• 2019:  $  548,764

Emily Schillinger:  Total Compensation 2018-2022:  $2.5 million

• 2022:  $836,416
• 2021:  $573,042
• 2020:  $539,761
• 2019:  $436,920
• 2018:  $335,932

Rebekah Jurata:  Total Compensation 2022:  $0.8 million

• 2022:  $779,621

Michael Lukso:  Total Compensation 2019-2022:  $1.5 million

• 2022:  $574,103
• 2021:  $388,100
• 2020:  $331,978
• 2019:  $305,257

Negra Husikic:  Total Compensation 2017-2022:  $2 million

• 2022:  $481,157
• 2021:  $333,443
• 2020:  $290,581
• 2019:  $259,765
• 2018:  $210,387
• 2017:  $174,570

Jamal Hagler:  Total Compensation 2016-2022:  $1.5 million

• 2022:  $567,807
• 2021:  $393,587
• 2020:  $255,937
• 2019:  $169,911

AIC paid for first class or charter travel.

25 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation with the five (5) most highly compensated reported to be:

• $769,759:  Project Applecart, LLC, of New York, NY for public affairs
• $758,545:  Targeted Victory, LLC, of Arlington, VA for public affairs
• $480,000:  Debevoise & Plimpton, of Ny, NY for government affairs
• $456,408:  Precision Strategies, of Washington, DC for public affairs
• $300,000:  Capital Tax Partners, of Washington, CD for government affairs

As illustrated above, most independent contracting was for public and government affairs. On the Form 990, (Part IX Statement of Functional Expenses and Schedule O) total fees for public and government affairs total $5 million and lobbying fees on the Form 990, Part IX total $1 million.

The bottom line is that AIC is a small lobbying organization who relies on membership dues (yet, the organization is a 501 (c) 3 and not a trade association) to pay nearly $4 million annually in compensation to Drew Maloney and $1 million to Bradley Bailey.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2022), click here.