Our CEO's Pay!
DALLAS (AP) -- Jeffery Smisek helped put together the world's largest airline with the merger of United and Continental, and the company rewarded him by more than tripling his compensation last year to $13.4 million.
More than half the compensation for the airline's CEO came from stock awards, including incentives for the merger that created United Continental Holdings Inc.
Smisek's 2011 compensation was disclosed in a proxy statement that the Chicago-based company filed Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. An analysis by The Associated Press calculates the value that the company put on compensation awarded to the CEO in that year and excludes changes in pension value, so it differs from the total that the company reports to the SEC.
Smisek, 57, was the CEO of Houston-based Continental Airlines and helped negotiate the combination with United. He was paid compensation valued at nearly $4.4 million in 2010.
Last year, Smisek was given stock awards that were valued at $7.53 million when they were granted in February 2011, including $4.4 million in merger incentives.
Smisek was paid a salary of $975,000, up from $791,250 in 2010; $4.41 million in separate incentive payments, up from $3.56 million in 2010; and $454,918 in other compensation, up from $9,766 the year before.
The other-compensation column included $241,457 for travel and relocation help, as well as $67,947 for insurance premiums paid by the company.
Other top United executives also got merger incentives that could become very valuable. The awards for Chief Financial Officer Zane Rowe, Chief Operations Officer Peter McDonald and Chief Revenue Officer James Compton were valued at $1.65 million apiece. Rowe announced this month he is leaving for Apple Inc.,