Log In | Register
SAN FRANCISCO — Retail stock broker Charles Schwab Corp.'s Chairman and Chief Executive, Walter Bettinger II, received compensation worth $10.02 million in 2010, almost the same as in 2009, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.
Bettinger received a base salary of $900,000. In 2010, his stock awards were worth $2.12 million, up slightly from $1.95 million in 2009. In contrast, a filing the company made with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday shows Bettinger's performance-related bonus fell slightly, from $2.5 million to $2.4 million.
Bettinger didn't get an annual cash bonus for 2010 or 2009. In 2008 he got a cash bonus of $128,250.
The bulk of Bettinger's compensation in 2010 came in the form of stock option awards valued at almost $4.55 million when they were granted, the same amount as in 2009. His other compensation, worth $89,119, included personal use of corporate aircraft and a company driver.
His total 2009 compensation was just more than $10.2 million, while his 2010 pay package fell just below $10.2 million. Charles Schwab is still recovering from the financial crisis of 2008.
Schwab is among several asset managers hurt by near-zero interest rates after the recession. Because of the low rates, Schwab and other companies have temporarily extended fee waivers on their money-market funds to ensure clients earn slightly positive returns.
For the full year, Schwab reported net income of $454 million, or 38 cents per share, down from $787 million, or 68 cents per share, in 2009.
The Associated Press formula calculates an executive's total compensation during the last fiscal year by adding salary, bonuses, perks, above-market interest the company pays on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock and stock options awarded during the year. The AP formula does not count changes in the present value of pension benefits. That makes the AP total slightly different in most cases from the total reported by companies to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The value that a company assigned to an executive's stock and option awards for 2010 was the present value of what the company expected the awards to be worth to the executive over time. Companies use one of several formulas to calculate that value. However, the number is just an estimate, and what an executive ultimately receives will depend on the performance of the company's stock in the years after the awards are granted. Most stock compensation programs require an executive to wait a specified amount of time to receive shares or exercise options.
