Wal-Mart executive pay in 2015 tempered by performance

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had a profitable 2015 to the tune of $16.182 billion in net profits companywide on gross revenue of $485.651 billion. But that performance was not enough to garner the retailer’s top executive’s more compensation, according to the Proxy filing made public on Wednesday (April 22).

CEO Doug McMillon earned a salary of $1.2 million last year, of which he chose to defer $130,000. The board of directors at Wal-Mart have moved in recent years to more performance-based earnings that are tied directly to company sales, operating income and return on income. Last year, 75.3% of McMillon’s overall compensation was performance based.

McMillon’s total compensation was $19.392 million, down from $25.592 million in the prior year. The biggest reason for the decline was based on cash and stock incentives which were $2.878 million and $14.597 million, respectively. A year ago, McMillon’s cash bonus was $1.035 million, but the stock awards totaled $23.011 million.

Pension funding and other compensation for McMillon totaled $322,359 and $393,673, respectively. While pension funding was comparable to a year ago, more travel in fiscal 2015 pushed up the use of the corporate aircraft for business travel.

McMillon and his top management team did not come close to the targets set by the board for fiscal 2015. The filing noted that McMillon’s performance pay was equal to 75% of the target. The other five executives’ performance pay ranged from 71% to 91% of target payouts.

Charles Holley, chief financial officer, earned a salary of $885,165, up 11.5% from the year-ago period. His overall pay of $7.431 million was down from $8.199 million a year ago. Holley’s performance pay was 71.65% of his total compensation. His cash and stock performance awards totaled $1.349 million and $4.798 million, respectively. That compared to a cash bonus of $827,762 and stock awards of $6.227 million in the prior year. Holley’s pension ($137,129) and other compensation ($261,382) were on par with the prior year.

Greg Foran, CEO of Walmart U.S., was relocated twice in 2015 from China to Hong Kong and from Hong Kong to Bentonville generating $206,837 in moving expenses and $442,797 in the standard expatriate benefits.

He assumed his new role in October and his total income of $19.535 for fiscal 2015 includes his other positions abroad. Foran received a one-time cash bonus of $500,000 upon his new role of U.S. CEO. His performance-based pay was 73.5% of target and based upon both global and U.S. operational performance. Foran’s stock and cash incentives totaled $17.05 million. His other compensation of $1.128 million included the afore mentioned moving and repatriate pay as well as $23,030 for use of the corporate aircraft. Foran said he spent the first eight months in the new role out in stores making 116 unannounced visits during that time.

David Cheesewright, CEO of Walmart International, was new to that job in fiscal 2015. He earned a base salary of $1.152 million, also receiving a special individual performance bonus of $551,852. His total compensation in fiscal 2015 was $10.655 million. Cheesewright’s use of company aircraft was valued at $247,450.

Rosalind Brewer, CEO of Sam’s Club, earned a base salary of $893,819 last year, garnering a pay raise of 5.95% from the prior year. Her overall compensation totaled $9.56 million which was $2 million less than the prior year. Her performance stock awards totaled $6.698 million, down from $9.181 million in the prior year. Cash incentives in fiscal 2015 were $1.711 million, up from $1.281 million in the prior year.

Wal-Mart also chose to provide salary details for Neil Ashe, CEO of Walmart Global E-commerce in this year’s Proxy filing. Ashe earned a base salary of $935,303 rising 10.8% from the prior year. His total compensation for fiscal 2015 was $9.436 million compared to $13.178 million in the prior year. Like the other execs Ashe’s overall pay was compromised by lackluster performance relative to goals set by the board. Ashe’s performance pay was equal to 73.51% of the target set for him. His performance pay included stock awards of $6.648 million, down from $11.252 million in the prior year. Cash awards of $1.618 million, were up from $1.030 million.