Comcast only had a so-so year in 2015, especially as federal officials forced it to withdraw its bid for Time Warner Cable. But CEO Brian Roberts and other top execs shouldn’t have any complaints. Roberts’ compensation rose 10% to $36.2 million, according to the company proxy just filed at the SEC. The package includes $2.9 million in salary, $5.4 million in stock awards, $5.4 million in option awards, $9.8 million in non-equity incentive compensation, $8.7 million change in pension value, and $4.1 million in other compensation.
NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke’s compensation declined 0.7% to $33.7 million. And Senior EVP David Cohen, the company’s point man in the Time Warner Cable effort, got at 32.6% raise to $17.9 million.
Comcast shares lost about 1.1% of their value, after accounting for dividends, in 2015. Net income fell 2.6% to $8.2 billion on revenues of $74.5 billion, up 8.3%.
Still, the board says it liked what it saw. Citing “our strong 2015 performance,” it gave Roberts 111% of his target annual cash bonus, and raised his deferred compensation by 5%. Directors specifically credited him for “focusing on the customer experience, in creating a culture of integrity and compliance and in reinforcing our ‘one Company’ culture and diversity initiatives.”
Although Roberts controls a third of the voting shares, the Compensation Committee says it “maintains an objective stance” toward his compensation using “the same methods, tools and processes” to determine his pay that it uses for other execs.
The group lauded Burke for his “strategic vision” saying that his “commitment to continuing to invest in our programming assets and grow our theme parks business, both domestically and internationally” was “a critical factor in NBCUniversal attaining such strong results.”
There’ll be no pastries and coffee for shareholders at the annual meeting on May 19: In a change, Comcast will conduct it as a live webcast.
“We are excited to embrace cutting-edge, virtual meeting technology that we believe will provide expanded shareholder access and participation, improved communications and, over time, cost savings for our shareholders and company,” company Secretary Arthur Block says in the proxy.
The Compensation Committee is chaired by Rockefeller Foundation president Judith Rodin. It also includes E.I. du Pont CEO Edward Breen, Aegis chairman Joseph Collins, and Bank of New York Mellon CEO Gerald Hassell.
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