Category: WSJ

Discovery CEO’s Compensation Tripled in 2018 to $129 Million

Discovery Inc. DISCB -1.47% Chief Executive David Zaslav received total compensation valued at $129.4 million in 2018, more than three times his compensation the year before, the company said in a securities filing Friday.

The compensation package makes Mr. Zaslav the highest paid U.S. executive of 2018, according to filings so far. His salary in 2018 remained flat at $3 million. The raise is largely the result of a substantial increase in stock-option awards tied to the contract extension Mr. Zaslav signed last year.

That employment agreement runs through 2023. The burst of options grants was accounted for in 2018; his annual compensation for the remainder of his deal will return to levels more consistent with earlier years, a company spokesman said.

Many S&P 500 CEOs Got a Raise in 2018 That Lifted Their Pay to $1 Million a Month

The strong U.S. economy has created millions of jobs and pushed up wages for many Americans. It also helped many big-company CEOs secure another raise and total compensation worth $1 million a month.

Median compensation for 132 chief executives of S&P 500 companies reached $12.4 million in 2018, up from $11.7 million for the same group in 2017, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The gains were driven by robust corporate profits and strong stock market returns for much of the year.

Most of these CEOs received substantial raises—the median was 6.4%—even though the December stock-market swoon meant most of the companies finished out the year posting sluggish shareholder returns.

See How Your Salary Compares

Over 1,000 companies, including Amazon, JPMorgan and Walmart, have disclosed how they compensate workers. Find out where your pay stands.

For the second year, most publicly traded U.S. companies are disclosing how much a typical employee makes. Compare yourself with the median employee at particular companies or across an entire sector, using data from MyLogIQ.

Citigroup Gives CEO 4% Pay Raise to $24 Million

Citigroup Inc. C -1.72% Chief Executive Michael Corbat received a compensation package valued at $24 million in 2018, a 4% raise from the $23 million he earned in the prior year, according to a securities filing Friday.

For the year, he earned a base salary of $1.5 million, unchanged from the prior year, and a $6.75 million cash bonus, up from the $6.45 million in 2017, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The rest of his pay package is made up of about $7.88 million in equity awards and a long-term performance-based pay worth $7.88 million.

In determining Mr. Corbat’s pay, Citi said it considered the steady progress it made in 2018 toward reaching its financial goals.

JPMorgan CEO Dimon’s Compensation Tops Pre-Crisis Record

JPMorgan JPM -0.28% Chase & Co. Chief Executive James Dimon received a compensation package valued at $31 million in 2018, up 5% from $29.5 million in 2017, according to a Thursday securities filing.

The CEO earned a base salary of $1.5 million and $5 million in cash, the same as a year ago, and $24.5 million in restricted equity, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. His pay exceeds his record compensation of $30 million in 2007 before the financial crisis.

Mr. Dimon, who has run the bank since late 2005, was the highest paid banking and finance chief executive in the S&P 500 in 2017. The median pay for the 43 banking and financial CEOs was $12.1 million, matching median pay for the S&P 500 as a whole, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of pay data from MyLogIQ LLC.

More Companies Flag a New Risk: Artificial Intelligence

Carlyle Group LP, Overstock.com Inc. and AmTrust Financial Services Inc. are among the growing ranks of companies whose annual shareholder reports now include artificial intelligence as a risk factor.

About 55 companies mentioned AI in the risk-factor section of their annual reports filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018, more than double the approximately two dozen the prior year, according to Nick Mazing, research director at investment research platform Sentieo Inc.

And in 2016, the number of companies mentioning AI as a risk in SEC filings was practically nonexistent, say MyLogIQ and Calcbench Inc., two other providers of public company data.

Caterpillar Puts CEO Back in Charge of Board

Caterpillar Inc.’s CAT 0.35% chief executive Jim Umpleby has been named chairman of the machinery giant’s board as well, cementing his leadership nearly two year into his tenure. The move reverses Caterpillar’s decision to split the CEO and chairman positions last year. Corporate governance experts say that having a separate chief executive and board leader can improve oversight and… Continue reading Caterpillar Puts CEO Back in Charge of Board