Kyiesha blog

Viacom CEO 2010 compensation jumps to $84.5M

NEW YORK – Viacom Inc. CEO Philippe Dauman's compensation more than doubled in 2010 from the year before, according to an Associated Press analysis, mainly because of stock options and awards.

Dauman's overall pay package climbed to $84.5 million from $34 million, according to a review of securities filings made on Friday.

His base salary rose 5 percent to about $2.6 million from $2.5 million. He received a performance-based bonus of $11.3 million, down 10 percent from $12.5 million the year before. The value of perks such as jet travel and 401(k) contributions fell 42 percent to $141,000 from $243,000.

The biggest part of Dauman's compensation came in the form of stock options and awards. In fiscal 2010, they totaled $70.5 million, up from $18.7 million.

Dauman oversees a media empire that includes cable channels MTV, BET and Comedy Central along with the Paramount Pictures film studio. In the nine months ended in September — the company recently switched its fiscal year to end Sept. 30. — Viacom brought in revenue of $9.34 billion, up 1 percent from the same nine months a year earlier.

The company's net income during the same period climbed 23 percent to $1.18 billion from $954 million.

Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone, who controls Viacom and CBS Corp. though super-voting shares, saw his compensation slip about 11 percent to $15 million from $16.9 million.

He drew a base salary of $1.31 million, up 5 percent from $1.25 million. His performance-based bonus fell 10 percent to $5.6 million from $6.3 million, and the value of his perks fell 23 percent to $4,650 from $6,000.

The value of stock and option awards he received fell 13 percent to $8.1 million from $9.3 million.

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value that the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive's compensation in the previous fiscal year.