St. Jude Children's Research Hospital CEO salary and executive pay
St. Jude paid its CEO, James R Downing, $1,713,883 for the fiscal year ending June 2025. That is down $720,307 (29.6%) from the fiscal year ending June 2024. Total revenue on that return was $2,208,853,162, up 9.9% from $2,009,853,917 for the fiscal year ending June 2024. St. Jude ranks 197th of 229 hospital systems on this site by CEO pay. St. Jude has 4 Form 990 returns on record, for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025. Also known as St. Jude.
See also: ALSAC (St. Jude fundraising), which files its own return; James Downing, the hospital's president and CEO, is listed on both.
Last updated from IRS e-file data. EIN 62-0646012, Memphis, TN.
CEO, fiscal year ending June 2025
$1,713,883
- Total revenue
- $2,208,853,162
- CEO pay vs. peers
- Higher than 18%
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending June 2025, IRS object ID 202601339349308855.View the filing
Peers: the 183 other hospital systems on this site. Ranked 151st of 184 by top pay as a share of revenue. Pay is 0.08% of revenue, our calculation from the same return. Revenue is Part I, line 12; peers are compared on their latest full-year returns.
This is the hospital itself. ALSAC, which raises money for St. Jude, files a separate return with its own CEO.
Highest-paid people on the latest return
On the latest return, 14 people were paid more than $500,000, 9 of them more than $1 million.
| Name and title | Total |
|---|---|
| James R Downing CEO PRESIDENT/CEO | $1,713,883 |
| Richard C Shadyac JrEX-OFFICIO DIRECTOR (THRU 3/25) | $1,564,611 |
| Joseph P TaylorEVP/SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR | $1,558,314 |
| Charles M RobertsEVP/DIRECTOR CANCER CENTER | $1,265,943 |
| Thomas E MerchantCHAIR | $1,222,235 |
Also paid on the latest return: Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo (EVP/CHAIR), $1,167,265; Ellis Neufeld (EVP/CLINICAL DIRECTOR), $1,130,282; Andrew Davidoff (CHAIR), $1,125,672; Madan Mohan (CHAIR), $1,073,341; David Ellison (CHAIR), $991,535; Michael Dyer (CHAIR), $967,442; Robyn Diaz (EVP/CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER), $935,399; Patricia A Keel (EVP/CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER), $924,171; James I Morgan (FORMER OFFICER), $629,380; Maria Megdal (EVP/CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER), $271,060.
Also listed in Part VII of the latest return, with no pay reported: Joyce A Aboussie (VOTING DIRECTOR), Steven J Allen MD (VOTING DIRECTOR), Joseph S Ayoub Jr Esq (VOTING DIRECTOR), Paul J Ayoub Esq (VOTING DIRECTOR), Frederick M Azar MD (VOTING DIRECTOR), Khalil Z Barrage (VOTING DIRECTOR), Martha Perine Beard (VOTING DIRECTOR), Terry L Burman (VOTING DIRECTOR), Lisa R Diller MD (VOTING DIRECTOR), Joseph E Eid MD (VOTING DIRECTOR), John D Farina (VOTING DIRECTOR), Fred P Gattas III Pharmd (VOTING DIRECTOR), Gabriel G Haddad MD (VOTING DIRECTOR), Judy A Habib (VOTING DIRECTOR), Charles C Hajjar (VOTING DIRECTOR), Fouad A Hajjar MD (VOTING DIRECTOR), Michael K Hamra (VOTING DIRECTOR), Frederick R Harris Jr MD (VOTING DIRECTOR), Carla Z Hassan (VOTING DIRECTOR), J David Karam II (VOTING DIRECTOR), Scott A Kupor (VOTING DIRECTOR (THRU 4/25)), Katherine N Lapp (VOTING DIRECTOR), Sharon L McCollam (VOTING DIRECTOR), Samia Melhem (VOTING DIRECTOR), Robert T Molinet Esq (VOTING DIRECTOR), and 12 more.
CEO pay by year
Each row is the CEO on that year's return.
| Fiscal year ending | Name and title | Total | Revenue | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2025 | James R Downing CEO PRESIDENT/CEO | $1,713,883 | $2,208,853,162 | Filing |
| Jun 2024 | James R Downing CEO PRESIDENT/CEO | $2,434,190 | $2,009,853,917 | Filing |
| Jun 2023 | James R Downing CEO PRESIDENT/CEO | $1,851,107 | $1,707,244,071 | Filing |
| Jun 2022 | James R Downing CEO PRESIDENT/CEO | $1,546,372 | $1,385,684,376 | Filing |
How this pay was reported
The parts of each total, as reported on the return for the fiscal year ending June 2025.
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending June 2025, IRS object ID 202601339349308855.View the filing
| Part VII | Schedule J | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name and title | From org | Related | Other | Base | Bonus | Other | Deferred | Nontaxable | Total |
| James R DowningPRESIDENT/CEO | $1,647,264 | $0 | $66,619 | $1,581,245 | $50,250 | $15,769 | $37,950 | $28,669 | $1,713,883 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
| Richard C Shadyac Jr*EX-OFFICIO DIRECTOR (THRU 3/25) | $0 | $1,393,252 | $171,359 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $1,286,179 | $0 | $107,073 | $145,310 | $26,049 | $1,564,611 | |||
| Joseph P TaylorEVP/SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR | $1,400,509 | $0 | $157,805 | $1,029,352 | $250 | $370,907 | $135,489 | $22,316 | $1,558,314 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
| Charles M RobertsEVP/DIRECTOR CANCER CENTER | $1,133,977 | $0 | $131,966 | $1,032,874 | $75,250 | $25,853 | $108,632 | $23,334 | $1,265,943 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
| Thomas E MerchantCHAIR | $1,143,949 | $0 | $78,286 | $996,721 | $250 | $146,978 | $37,950 | $40,336 | $1,222,235 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
These figures come from St. Jude's Form 990 returns, as the IRS publishes them. The methodology page explains how they're chosen. To report an error, email corrections@ceopaycheck.com.
How St. Jude compares
Ranked 197th of 229 hospital systems by CEO pay.
- Previous in this ranking: 196th, Salem Health, $1,730,320
- Next in this ranking: 198th, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, $1,710,461
Closest in revenue among the hospital systems on this site:
HealthPartners (Park Nicollet)$3,838,003 (CEO), fiscal year ending Dec 2024
St. Elizabeth Healthcare$1,709,972 (CEO), fiscal year ending Dec 2024
Northeast Georgia Health System$2,489,525 (CEO), fiscal year ending Sep 2025
RWJBarnabas Health$8,864,611 (CEO), fiscal year ending Dec 2024
Hoag$3,921,506 (CEO), fiscal year ending Dec 2024
Common questions
James R Downing (PRESIDENT/CEO) was paid $1,713,883 for the fiscal year ending June 2025: $1,647,264 from St. Jude and $66,619 in other compensation (Part VII columns D and F).
The CEO, James R Downing, was the highest-paid person on the latest return, at $1,713,883.
This is the hospital itself. ALSAC, which raises money for St. Jude, files a separate return with its own CEO.
St. Jude paid its CEO, James R Downing, $1,713,883 for the fiscal year ending June 2025. That is down $720,307 (29.6%) from the fiscal year ending June 2024. The earliest return on record is for the fiscal year ending June 2022, when the CEO was James R Downing, paid $1,546,372. By fiscal year end: June 2022, $1,546,372 (James R Downing); June 2023, $1,851,107; June 2024, $2,434,190; June 2025, $1,713,883.
St. Jude's return for the fiscal year ending June 2025 reports total expenses of $1,897,571,834 and total revenue of $2,208,853,162 (Part I, lines 18 and 12), so revenue exceeded expenses by $311,281,328. Expenses were $1,772,678,423 for the fiscal year ending June 2024, so they rose 7.0%. The CEO's pay of $1,713,883 equals 0.09% of expenses, our calculation.
From the 4 Form 990 returns St. Jude Children's Research Hospital filed with the IRS for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025. The latest full-year return was filed on May 13, 2026. Schedule J of the fiscal year ending June 2025 return breaks down pay for all 5 people in the pay breakdown above.