https://www.stltoday.com/business/columns/david-nicklaus/centene-board-limits-bonuses-but-neidorff-earns-nearly-25-million/article_fa24f6eb-0d36-5306-8cdb-a8dcd37cc4cc.html
Centene Chief Executive Michael Neidorff saw his compensation drop slightly last year to $24.96 million, partly because the company capped bonuses in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Neidorff, the highest-paid CEO in St. Louis for the last six years, had earned $26.4 million in 2019, including $7.1 million in cash bonuses.
Last year's pay package, disclosed in a proxy statement filed Tuesday, included two bonuses: an annual incentive payment of $1.7 million and a long-term bonus of slightly more than $3 million.
Centene exceeded its financial goals last year, so executives could have qualified for annual bonuses of up to double the target amount. The board's compensation committee, though, "believed strongly that 2020 bonuses should be limited to the target payout in light of the pandemic," the document says.
The long-term bonus was just 92% of the target amount because Centene ranked below average on a shareholder-return measure.
Last year's pay package, disclosed in a proxy statement filed Tuesday, included two bonuses: an annual incentive payment of $1.7 million and a long-term bonus of slightly more than $3 million.
Centene exceeded its financial goals last year, so executives could have qualified for annual bonuses of up to double the target amount. The board's compensation committee, though, "believed strongly that 2020 bonuses should be limited to the target payout in light of the pandemic," the document says.
The long-term bonus was just 92% of the target amount because Centene ranked below average on a shareholder-return measure.
Neidorff's salary rose 20% last year to $1.8 million. He also received stock worth $14.9 million and options valued at $2.9 million.
Sixty percent of the stock is performance-based, and is contingent on Centene meeting three-year goals for revenue growth and profit margins. A similar stock award from 2018 paid out at 152% of the target amount because the company exceeded its three-year goals.