Michael Albano is the Leader of Cleary Gottlieb’s Executive Compensation, Employee Benefits, and ERISA Group. With over two decades of experience, Michael advises public and private companies, private equity sponsors, financial institutions, investment funds, executives, and boards of directors on the full range of executive compensation, employee benefits, and ERISA matters. 

Michael counsels clients on the design, negotiation, implementation, and disclosure of compensation arrangements, including employment agreements, severance and change-in-control protections, retention and incentive programs, deferred compensation, and succession planning and also regularly advises on tax, securities, and corporate governance considerations related to compensation matters, including during periods of corporate change such as mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, IPOs, reorganizations, leadership transitions, and shareholder activism.

In addition to transactional, advisory and governance work, Michael has extensive experience advising on ERISA fiduciary and pension investment issues, particularly in the context of fund formation and financial institution transactions. He also works closely with private equity sponsors on compensation and governance matters across fund structures and portfolio companies.