This paper empirically researches the relation between the major shareholder control and the effectiveness of executive compensation by using data of private listed companies from 2008 to 2012. This study reveals that the higher the concentration of ownership of the largest shareholder, the greater the effectiveness of executive compensation; the greater the management degree of major shareholder, the smaller the effectiveness of executive compensation. Further we find that the major shareholder control has a significant impact on the effectiveness of executive compensation. The inhibitive effect outweighs the incentive effect. These results provide sufficient evidences to support the major shareholder control explanation for the strength issue of executive compensation effectiveness. The results also can provide references for private enterprises to establish a reasonable executive compensation mechanism.