No, Lionsgate didn’t just punish its CEO: Jon Feltheimer’s compensation was unusually high in 2014 with huge slugs of stock and option awards from a new contract. And this year’s $6.8 million understates his 2015 compensation because a bonus of about $4 million in stock was awarded after the fiscal year ended in March, and will be reported next year.
This year’s tally includes $1.5 million salary, $1 million in stock awards, $4.1 million in non-equity incentives, and $220,311 in other compensation. The “other” group includes $28,043 for club membership dues, and $189,347 for personal use of the company aircraft.
If you just use the reported numbers for 2015, then Vice Chairman Michael Burns beat Feltheimer with $8.8 million, a 2% increase.
Lionsgate shares appreciated nearly 28% in the fiscal year, factoring in dividends. (Today it hit an all time high of $38.53.
)The company’s revenues declined 9% to $2.4 billion in the fiscal year, as it released fewer wide-release films. Still, the Compensation Committee concluded that Lionsgate “performed at solid levels.” As a result, Feltheimer and Burns merited bonuses “above the median relative to similarly situated executives” at peer companies. That group includes some much larger companies including Disney, Fox, and Discovery.
Lionsgate will hold its annual meeting in Toronto on September 15.
The compensation committee is chaired by entertainment lawyer Arthur Evrensel and includes board Chairman Mark Rachesky (who controls 27.2% of Lionsgate shares), and Omnicom Media Group CEO Daryl Simm.
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