Business

Boeing Awards CEO $21 Million in Total Compensation for 2020

Adam Jeffery | CNBC
  • Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun stopped taking his $1.4 million-a-year salary in March 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic hit the industry.
  • The company reported a record annual loss of nearly $12 billion last year.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun was awarded $21 million in total compensation for his work last year, but he gave up $3.6 million in salary and bonuses after the coronavirus pandemic hit and devastated the industry.

He took just $269,231 of his $1.4 million salary for the year.

The majority of Calhoun's pay package, disclosed when he became CEO in January 2020, is made up of equity that vests over time and is based on company performance targets and other metrics.

Calhoun was named CEO after Boeing's board ousted former Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg over his handling of two deadly crashes of the Boeing 737 Max, the company's bestselling airplane. Calhoun's appointment came just before the Covid-19 pandemic shook the global economy, hitting the aviation industry especially hard.

Boeing reported a record annual loss for last year of nearly $12 billion as cancellations outpaced new sales of jetliners, prompting thousands of job cuts.

Calhoun's total compensation includes awards that were disclosed when he took the job last January, including about $7 million worth of stock if the company hits milestones including returning the 737 Max to service, entry into service of the long-delayed 777X, and other goals, but those shares haven't vested.

It also includes $10 million in stock for leaving his job at Blackstone Group to take the top job at the aircraft manufacturer last year and another $3.5 million in long-term incentives that haven't vested.

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