FedEx CEO's compensation package fell 26 pct to $7.7M in fiscal 2009 amid layoffs, pay cuts
Associated Press
08/18/09 12:30 AM EDT
NEW YORK — The top executive at FedEx Corp. saw his total compensation package drop by about 26 percent to $7.7 million in fiscal 2009 — a year in which thousands of employees were laid off and others took pay cuts, an Associated Press analysis shows.
According to a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chairman, President and CEO Fred Smith took home a salary of about $1.36 million for the fiscal year ending in May. That compares with a salary of about $1.43 million last year.
He didn't receive a performance-based cash bonus in fiscal 2009. But Smith did receive stock options and restricted stock valued at about $5.1 million, down from $5.5 million a year ago. However, this chunk of compensation is currently of little value because FedEx's $63.88 closing stock price Monday is well below the nearly $91 exercise price of the options — too low to yield a profit.
FedEx shares lost about 39 percent of their value during the fiscal year, as the recession crimped shipping demand across the globe.
Smith's perks were valued at about $1.3 million in 2009, and included personal use of corporate aircraft, security, financial consulting, personal use of a company car and tax preparation services, among other items. That's up from $837,548 in perks in the previous year.
The value of Smith's pension plan lost about $1.2 million in the last year.
In December, about halfway through the 2009 fiscal year, Memphis-based FedEx announced broad-based cost cuts including a 20 percent pay cut for Smith, a 7.5 to 10 percent cut for other executives and a 5 percent cut for thousands of others. The pay cut went into effect on Jan. 1.
The company also froze retirement plan contributions for a year, among other cost-saving measures.
For the full fiscal year, FedEx posted a profit of $3.76 per share, compared with $5.83 a year ago. Revenue fell 6 percent to $35.5 billion.
The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive's compensation in the previous fiscal year.
