Dive Brief:
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Thanks in part to the inclusion of a make-good payment to make up for what he forfeited when he left Pepsi, Target CEO Brian Cornell will get a compensation package of $28.2 million for 2014.
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The package includes some $14 million that PepsiCo would be paying Cornell. His direct compensation from Target is more like $5.3 million, including his salary of $595,000, from his employment there since last August. It's in contrast to that of Wal-Mart Stores CEO Doug McMillon, who saw his compensation package fall 24%. Of course, it went from $25.3 million to a still-healthy $19.06 million in 2014.
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Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday proposed new rules, part of 2010's Dodge-Frank bank reform law, that would make it much easier for investors to track executive pay with company performance.
Dive Insight:
Target’s hire of Brian Cornell was yet another big ticket expense that, one could argue, came of the retailer’s data breach and other troubles a couple of years ago. But the retailer has already made great strides under Cornell, recapturing some of its old “cheap chic” magic when it comes to apparel and home goods design, bailing out of Canada, and other solid moves.
But in time we may see more of tying executive pay with performance, plus easier ways of doing so (as Wal-Mart has done), under new SEC rules.