TMCnet News
Office Depot CEO gets $2.35 million performance bonus [Sun Sentinel :: ](South Florida Sun Sentinel (FL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) March 14--Office Depot CEO Roland Smith will receive a $2.35 million bonus this week -- not a bad perk for a little over a 100 days' work restructuring the corporate staff. "The Office Depot board of directors determined that Roland exceeded the expectations set forth in his employment agreement, including selecting a corporate headquarters and establishing a senior management structure," said Nigel Travis, Office Depot's lead director. Company spokeswoman Karen Denning pointed out that Smith didn't receive a signing bonus to take the top job at Office Depot, The board decided instead to tie the new chief executive's bonus to performance goals related to restructuring the organization. About 13 percent of CEOs in 2013 received signing bonuses, said Aaron Boyd, director of governance research for Equilar, an executive compensation data firm. Office Depot, the nation's No. 2 office-supply retailer, chose Boca Raton as its headquarters in mid-December following the company's $1.2 billion merger last year with Illinois-based OfficeMax. Since then, the combined headquarters staff has been reduced by 35 percent, the company said in a conference call on Feb. 25. Earlier that month, Office Depot notified the state of Illinois that it plans to close the OfficeMax headquarters in Naperville, Ill., a Chicago suburb, by early 2015, which will result in the layoff of 1,600 employees. The board met on Feb. 20th and determined Smith had met the goals for the bonus payable by March 15. Travis noted that Smith completed reorganization of corporate staff in eight weeks instead of the "months typical for such a process." "We truly believe Roland has made a great start in bringing together two companies in such a competitive environment,' he said. Smith, 59, was named CEO in November, charged with turning around the struggling retailer. He was given a starting salary of $1.4 million a year, but the total value of his compensation package this year could be as high as $20 million, if all performance targets are met and stock awards are made, according to Equilar. [email protected] or 561-243-6650 ___ (c)2014 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |