CONTINUING COVERAGE
AJC reporter Russell Grantham is tracking what Georgia’s major public companies pay their top executives. Look for periodic news and trend stories, as well as up-to-date statistics, as Grantham pores through this year’s corporate proxy statements.
Graphic Packaging CEO David Scheible received a 44 percent pay raise last year, to $9.2 million, as the Sandy Springs paper packaging firm’s recovery from the Great Recession gained speed.
The 56-year-old CEO’s raise included a near tripling of his bonus and a $2.3 million increase in the value of his retirement benefits, after the company retooled his pension formula last year to increase his future pension income.
By contrast, Graphic Packaging froze most employees’ pensions between 2004 and 2011.
The look at Scheible’s compensation is part of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s analysis of the pay of Georgia’s top executives over coming weeks. Executive pay has gained increased attention from investors and lawmakers in the wake of the financial crisis and Great Recession. Congress has passed legislation giving shareholders more say on executive pay.
Scheible’s 2012 pay also included $2.7 million in salary and bonus, and $4.2 million in company stock, according to the company’s recent proxy filing.
The jump in Scheible’s pay mirrors a rebound in Graphic Packaging’s fortunes.
Amid heavy losses during the recession, the company’s stock dropped below $1 a share in 2009, and the New York Stock Exchange threatened to boot its listing from the market.
But after cutting hundreds of jobs and closing several plants, Graphic Packaging became profitable again later that year, and its stock has since risen more than seven-fold.
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