Feb 22, 2019
Marchionne gets US$54M in pay and perks for year he died
, Bloomberg News
Fiat Chrysler Automobile NV’s late Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne received a total of US$54 million in cash compensation, perks and shares in 2018, the year of his sudden death.
About US$42 million of Marchionne’s haul came from 2.8 million shares granted under a long-term award that was linked to performance metrics spanning several years. He also was paid a US$5.2 million bonus for 2017, and US$2.3 million in salary. He didn’t receive a bonus for last year. Fiat Chrysler also paid about US$5 million for Marchionne’s insurance premiums, tax preparation and tax equalization.
The board set a US$14 million target compensation for 2019 for Marchionne’s successor, Mike Manley, including salary, bonus and restricted stock worth US$10 million. Manley, who oversaw the Jeep brand before being tapped to lead the automaker in July, got about US$1.1 million for his work in the second half of last year, including perks and a bonus that doesn’t pay out until this year.
Manley, 54, also received US$3 million in restricted stock that could vest if certain targets are achieved. Fiat Chrysler didn’t disclose the compensation he received before he took over the CEO job from his ailing predecessor.
Compared with Marchionne, Manley’s pay is more in line with the typical executive compensation programs at firms in the U.S. and Western Europe: a salary, a target bonus set at roughly double the salary, and a significantly larger equity award.
Marchionne reaped an annual salary of about US$4 million in his final years on the job after the tie-up of Fiat and Chrysler in 2014 -- a far larger fixed compensation than his counterparts at automakers including General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG. He received several big awards around the time of the merger, most of which were tied to performance goals stretching several years.
Car-industry executive pay has been the subject of unprecedented coverage in the months since the arrest of fallen Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. executive Carlos Ghosn. The longtime leader of the French and Japanese automakers averaged about $15 million in reported annual compensation from the two companies in the years leading up to his arrest in 2018. Prosecutors have alleged about US$70 million in deferred pay and benefits for Ghosn was concealed. He has denied the charges.
