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.
IntercontinentalExchange Chief Executive Jeffrey Sprecher got a 14 percent pay cut, to $7.4 million, as the growing Wall Street player missed some profit targets, leading to smaller bonus and stock awards.
Meanwhile, Newell Rubbermaid CEO Michael Polk saw a 49 percent decline in pay, to $9.6 million, after no longer receiving large cash and stock awards tied to his hiring by the consumer products company in 2011.
The look at the two CEOs 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.
IntercontinentalExchange, better known as ICE, did better than most companies last year on the non-binding “say-on-pay” votes. It got 99 percent approval from shareholders in 2012 on its executive compensation plan.
ICE has been rising fast on Wall Street, striking an $8.2 billion deal late last year to buy the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. The merger is awaiting regulatory approval.
ICE’s revenues rose 3 percent in 2012, to $1.4 billion, and profits increased 8 percent, to $552 million. But that wasn’t enough to beat certain profit targets, resulting in Sprecher and other top executives getting smaller bonuses or stock awards last year than in 2011, according to a proxy statement ICE filed Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sprecher’s compensation included $3.1 million in salary and bonus, $4.1 million in stocks and stock options, and $279,918 of other compensation.
At Newell Rubbermaid, Polk’s 2012 compensation included $2.7 million in salary and bonus, $6.3 million in stock awards, and $611,340 in retirement savings and perks, including personal use of a company jet.
That was down from to $18.8 million he received the previous year, including $14.3 million in restricted stock he got to replace Unilever stock he lost when he was hired from that firm.
The move turned out to be a good deal for Polk. After a roughly 50 percent rise in Newell Rubbermaid’s shares since Polk joined the firm, his stake in company stock, including some later awards, was worth about $26 million, the company disclosed Thursday in a proxy statement.
Polk has had some positive results since rolling out plans to streamline the company’s operations and focus on more profitable products. Profits tripled in 2012 to $401 million and shareholders saw a 41 percent return.
But executives missed their sales growth targets, as the company’s revenues remained flat in 2012, at $5.9 billion. And the firm last year said it was laying off 2,000 people, its second big job cut in as many years.
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