Tag: CEOs

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.

Special Fees for CEO Searches?

Given the amount of expertise, judgment and skill required in hiring a new CEO — to say nothing of time — special retainers for leading a CEO search or executive transition used to be de rigueur. But no longer.

A survey conducted by TheCorporateCounsel.net asking if boards had paid a special fee for serving on a CEO search committee received only 14 responses, and among that sample, only 7% reported paying directors a fee. In the same vein, a 2016 study conducted by Equilar found 15 boards that had paid special committee fees, and only one explicitly tasked the committee with CEO search responsibilities.

A look through director compensation disclosures using MyLogIQ’s SEC filings intelligence service shows that CEO search committees with special fees were more common a decade ago than in recent years. Comparative data is difficult to come by given that companies don’t hire new CEOs on a regular basis. However, overall the data appears to paint a picture of special CEO search fees going the way of the dodo.

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.

Are Comp Plans Too Similar?

No two companies are identical. So why should their compensation plans be?

It’s a question that’s frequently being asked by board directors and compensation consultants, especially at this time of year, leading into proxy season, as governance observers are noting an increasing convergence in plan design across the board for companies, such as a heavy reliance on performance-based pay, a movement away from stock options and the use of TSR as an incentive metric.

While sources’ views on the reason for the broad similarities across plans vary, many are questioning whether the homogenization of executive pay plans has gone too far.

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.

JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Had $31 Million Compensation Package

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, -0.28%   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 filling.

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 filling with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. His pay exceeds his record compensation of $30 million in 2007 before the financial crisis.

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.

30 S&P 500 CEOs with 20 Years or More on the Job

Keeping a job, any job, for 20 years or more is becoming rarer and rarer. The feat may be uniquely treacherous for the chief executive officer of a publicly traded company that is judged on quarterly performance. As goes the company, so goes the CEO’s career. Among the companies that comprise the S&P 500 index,… Continue reading 30 S&P 500 CEOs with 20 Years or More on the Job