Company: ISRG
Filing Date: 2025-03-14
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001035267-25-000098
Chunk: 96

Company: INTUITIVE SURGICAL INC
Filing Date: 2025-03-14
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 96
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 executive compensation program.

Consistent with best practices, we hold annual Say-on-Pay votes, which provide our stockholders with an annual opportunity to convey to the Company their views on the compensation paid to our NEOs. Stockholders have continued to show strong support of our executive compensation program through the annual Say-on-Pay vote, with over 93% of votes in favor of our 2024 proposal and, similarly, an average approval of over 92% of the votes for the Company’s Say-on-Pay vote over the past five years. Based on the results of our 2024 Say-on-Pay vote, the Compensation Committee determined not to make significant changes to our compensation program in response to that vote. We believe that the sustained, strong support of our Say-on-Pay proposals reflects our stockholders’ endorsement of our executive compensation philosophy and, specifically, our efforts to attract, retain, and motivate our NEOs.

CEO pay ratios provide little comparative value for our executive compensation program.

Although SEC executive compensation disclosure rules require annual disclosure of the CEO pay ratio, our Compensation Committee does not believe that the CEO pay ratio should define or drive our compensation principles or practices. CEO pay ratios vary widely across companies, as different companies have different employment and compensation practices, depending on the nature of their workforce, their business, geographic locations, and various other factors. According to the SEC, the purpose of the CEO pay ratio disclosures is not to facilitate comparisons among companies. Further, conformity or comparability of pay ratios across companies is not necessarily achievable given the variety of factors that could cause ratios to differ, as companies may utilize different methodologies, exclusions, estimates, and assumptions in calculating their pay ratios. As a result, the utility of the CEO pay ratio as a comparative metric at the Company, industry-wide, or across industries is limited.

#### Summary
Given the effectiveness of our existing approaches and commitments to providing fair, competitive, and transparent compensation to our executives and our Compensation Committee’s ongoing evaluation of our executive compensation program, which is informed by regular engagement with our stockholders, we believe that the policy change requested by this proposal is unwarranted and not in the best interests of our stockholders.

#### Vote Required
Approval of Proposal No. 5 requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares present in person, virtually online, or represented by proxy and voting at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote on the proposal.

#### Recommendation of the Board
| The Board unanimously recommends that stockholders vote AGAINST this proposal. |

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