Our Team

Steve Cross, Managing Partner

Mr. Cross has over 20 years of experience providing executive compensation advisory services to some of the world's leading companies. He works with outside boards and executive management teams of both private and public organizations, through all stages of the business cycle, initial public offerings, mergers and divestitures. His experience covers all aspects of compensation advisory services including compensation strategy development, incentive plan design, pay-for-performance assessments, and assistance with compensation committee governance issues.

Prior to founding Cogent in early 2007, Mr. Cross served as the market leader for Mercer's executive compensation practice in Houston where he led the firm's global energy industry initiative and served as the consulting advisor to the Energy 27 Group. He also spent 10 years at KPMG where he was the partner in charge of the executive compensation consulting practice for the Southwest Region.

He has written numerous articles, contributed to the publication of books, and spoken many times on the subject of executive compensation. He has been a regular guest lecturer on the subject of executive compensation and corporate governance at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University.

Mr. Cross holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Houston. He is a member of World at Work, The National Association of Corporate Directors, and the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals.

Mr. Cross is supported by a team of highly qualified professionals, most of whom have advanced degrees. For more information about our consultants and their qualifications, please contact the firm.