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 in the coming weeks, as well as up-to-date statistics, as Grantham pores through this year’s corporate proxy statements.
Home Depot last year awarded Chief Executive Frank Blake an $11.1 million pay package, a 3 percent raise, as the retailer of home-building and do-it-yourself supplies climbed out of a post-recession slump.
His 2012 compensation, up from $10.8 million in 2011, included $3.6 million in salary and bonus, $7.2 million in company stock and stock options, and $291,889 in perks such as personal use of company aircraft.
The look at Blake’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 2007-2009 financial crisis and the Great Recession.
Congress passed legislation in 2010 to give shareholders more say on executive pay.
After years of treading water, Home Depot’s stock has more than doubled since mid-2011, closing at $71.22 Monday. Stronger home sales and a slowly strengthening economy helped boost the Atlanta company’s net income, which rose almost 17 percent last year, to $4.5 billion.
Revenue climbed 6 percent last year, to $74.8 billion.
The stronger trends helped Home Depot beat financial targets set by the company’s board of directors, resulting in higher pay, according to the proxy statement the company filed Monday.
Those targets tied executives’ bonuses and stock awards to certain financial measures such as revenue growth and the pace at which company stores sold their inventories.
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