Top UPS execs get 10 percent pay hikes, more stock

UPS is giving four of its top executives 10 percent base pay raises and extra stock awards that will likely be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each.

The pay committee of the Atlanta shipping giant’s board of directors said the moves are intended “to improve the competitiveness of UPS executive compensation.”

The pay changes affect CEO David Abney, Chief Financial Officer Richard Peretz, Chief Commercial Officer Alan Gershenhorn, and Myron Gray, president of U.S. operations. Peretz became CFO in July 2015.

Last year, Abney got $11.3 million in total compensation, close to the median CEO pay last year at big Georgia companies. Peretz got almost $1.5 million; Gershenhorn got $4.3 million; and Gray got $2.8 million.

All of the executives got a 10 percent salary raise effective Oct. 1. Most also got extra “one-time” grants of stock options and future compensation tied to the company’s stock price and other criteria, according to a company filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The board’s Sept. 16 action also will likely result in bigger bonuses and stock awards in the future. Those awards are based on a multiple of their salaries.

For instance, Abney’s salary was just over $1 million last year, but his target stock award is now 700 percent of his new higher salary and his stock option target is 90 percent of his salary. Last year, they were 675 percent and 45 percent, respectively.