Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne. (Photo Credit: CC BY/Ricardo Stuckert-PR/Wikipedia)
In an age when automotive bailouts and CEO salaries have given taxpayers something to hate, one CEO has revealed that he drew no salary. The Detroit Free Press reports that Chrysler’s annual financial report, filed Tuesday, reveals that company Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne was paid no salary or stock options in 2011. Marchionne, who is also the CEO of Fiat, did receive compensation and stock from the Italian automaker.
Fiat did not disclose executive compensation
Fiat, which owns 58.5 percent of Chrysler, also filed its annual financial report Tuesday. The report did not identify the specific compensation that Sergio Marchionne received, although it is known that he was paid for his services. In 2010, Marchionne reportedly was paid $4.5 million in salary by Fiat. That same year, he received $600,000 in stock awards from Chrysler but no salary or other bonuses.
He gave back what others took away
Marchionne’s lack of a salary in 2012 stands in extreme contrast with what Ford CEO Alan Mulally received in total compensation. Sources indicate that Mulally received $26.5 million in total compensation in 2010. Mulally also acquired 2.85 million shares of Ford stock via options exercised the previous year. That stock currently has a value of $34.5 million, according to the Free Press.
At General Motors, CEO Dan Akerson reportedly earned $1.7 million in total salary, while his stock compensation reached a total of $5.3 million, $2 million of which was restricted stock.
Because Ford did not accept automotive bailout dollars from the federal government, the automaker’s compensation practices did not fall under review by the U.S. Treasury. If Marchionne had been paid in 2011, his total salary and compensation would have been reviewed by treasury officials. Government officials would have paid close attention to the manner of compensation, particularly as it would have related to Chrysler’s 2009 emergency Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
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Chrysler is off the hook
Multiple sources report that Chrysler has repaid all of its automotive bailout loans from the U.S. and Canadian governments. Final payments were credited in May of last year, according to the Free Press.
Moving forward, Marchionne told the automotive media that neither Chrysler or Fiat plan to change their current course, now that the loans are repaid.
“We’re going to remain competitive, but I think the industry itself has learned how to be much more cautious,” he said. “We intend to follow that trend, and I don’t think we should be breaking with what I consider to be a very … institutionalized trend today in the marketplace.”