Land & Buildings Announces Investment Opinion: Issues White Paper Detailing Why It Believes Welltower's Compensation Program Is Likely to Lead to Inferior Shareholder Returns
NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Issued by Land & Buildings Investment Management, LLC
Welltower Shares Trade at 144% Premium to NAV and 33x FFO: Investors Switching to Ventas or American Healthcare REIT Receive 50% More Asset Value Per Dollar
Estimates Shares Could See ~35%-60% Downside From Current Levels to Match Peer Valuations – Discloses Short Position in Welltower
Today, Land & Buildings Investment Management, LLC (together with its affiliates, "Land & Buildings," "L&B," "us" or "we"), issued a white paper on Welltower, Inc. (NYSE:WELL) ("Welltower" or the "Company"), titled Compensation Plan Hubris: Why Welltower's Ten-Year Executive Program Is Likely to Lead to Inferior Shareholder Returns, which provides a detailed analysis of the Ten-Year Executive Continuity and Alignment Program (the "Program") adopted by Welltower's Board of Directors (the "Board") on October 26, 2025. Land & Buildings believes this Program is a mechanism for transferring enormous wealth from shareholders to management, and that investors should consider selling Welltower shares.
Key findings from the white paper include:
- The scale of potential enrichment is staggering. At a share price of $300, Welltower CEO Shankh Mitra's maximum award of 8,698,012 LTIP Units would be worth approximately $2.6 billion based on L&B's calculations. The Company's 2026 proxy statement discloses a performance cap at an implied value of $350 per share, at which the maximum award reaches $3.04 billion, plus an estimated $110-$240 million in tax-advantaged cumulative distributions. Six months into the plan, we estimate Mr. Mitra has already earned approximately $1 billion based on stock performance to date and the time-based units.
- If Welltower's valuation reverts toward peers, L&B believes shares could see approximately 35%-60% downside from current levels. Welltower currently trades at 33x forward FFO versus a 5-year average of 25x, and at an estimated 144% premium to Green Street NAV, the highest in Company history and among the highest ever observed for a large-cap REIT. Investors switching from WELL to Ventas (NYSE:VTR) or American Healthcare REIT (NYSE:AHR) could receive roughly 50% more NAV per dollar invested, comparable senior housing exposure, higher dividend yields, and freedom from the most aggressive executive compensation structure in REIT history, based on L&B's findings. Since the Program was announced on October 26, 2025, Ventas has outperformed Welltower by approximately 440 basis points, consistent with L&B's thesis.
- The cautionary tale of Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) should alarm Welltower shareholders. The subject of L&B's last public short white paper, ARE, peaked at $224 in December 2021. By April 2026, it had fallen to approximately $43, a decline of approximately 80%, as life science sector fundamentals deteriorated. A 14-year dividend growth streak was broken by a 45% cut. The parallels are direct: visionary CEO narrative, aggressive sector-concentrated growth at premium multiples justified by secular tailwinds, and transaction volume celebrated as a headline achievement. ARE's management compensation, at $11-$13 million per year, 100x smaller than Mr. Mitra's potential payout, was still sufficient to drive growth aggressive enough to destroy three quarters of shareholder value when the cycle turned.
"Welltower's Board has adopted what we believe is the most aggressive executive compensation structure in public REIT history, and adding insult to injury, they have done so without a binding shareholder vote, following a prior 52% say-on-pay result," said Jonathan Litt, Founder and CIO of Land & Buildings. "Critically, the Board cannot fire Mr. Mitra for poor performance without triggering a $500 million golden parachute. Shareholders who find these terms objectionable effectively have one reliable remedy: sell their shares. This is why we have taken a significant short position in the Company and have published our analysis so that investors can evaluate the facts for themselves."
The full white paper can be viewed here.
Land & Buildings holds a short position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL). Land & Buildings holds long positions in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) and American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR).
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Sources and Notes
Welltower SEC Filings (8-K filed October 27, 2025 and DEF 14A filed April 10, 2026), Alexandria SEC Filings, Bloomberg, Green Street and Land & Buildings estimates.
Note: All stock prices, valuation multiples, and total return calculations are as of April 14, 2026.
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