The new top executive of Atlanta rent-to-own furniture company Aaron’s will make 22 percent more than his predecessor, the company has disclosed.
Ronald Allen, a board member who was named president and CEO after Robin Loudermilk stepped down, will receive a base salary of $850,000 this year. When Allen took the job on an interim basis last November, his base salary was $695,000, the same amount Loudermilk made before he left due to mental health concerns.
Aaron’s named Allen, a former CEO of Delta Air Lines, to the post permanently in February.
Allen’s total compensation for the two months he led the company in 2011 was $525,464, the company said in a regulatory filing. The bulk of the package came from stock awards, including restricted stock that has no value for three years.
Aaron’s said in the filing that Grant Thornton, a compensation consultant, found that the company’s CEO was “significantly undercompensated in most areas of direct compensation” compared with peer companies.
Allen also received $93,285 in cash and stock for his previous time on Aaron’s board, according to the filing.
Loudermilk’s 2011 compensation was $2.8 million, including a base salary of $589,856, $1.73 million in stock awards and a $382,964 bonus.
When he left the company, Loudermilk also received the continuation of his heath coverage for up to 18 months and a $25,067 payment to help subsidize the cost of health care, and the immediate vesting of all of his remaining stock options and restricted stock, the filing showed.
Aaron’s founder Charlie Loudermilk, chairman of the board and Robin Loudermilk’s father, received $1.66 million in compensation in 2011, down 43 percent from 2010 due mostly to elimination of stock awards in 2011.
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