NEW YORK: Cisco Systems Inc CEO John Chambers received about $18.9 million in compensation for the latest fiscal year, a 33 percent increase from last year's payout due to more generous bonus and stock awards, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures filed with regulators.
By the end of the company's fiscal year that ended July 30, Cisco's sales had recovered from a deep swoon caused by the recession. That entitled Chambers to $4.6 million under the company's "incentive plan."
In the previous fiscal year, Chambers wasn't eligible for such a payout because of the sales downturn, but the board awarded him a "discretionary bonus" of $2 million anyway.
Chambers' 2010 base salary totaled $382,212, up 2 percent from the previous year. He received stock options and restricted stock worth $13.9 million when they were granted, up from $11.8 million a year ago.
Cisco doesn't give its top executives any of the perks common to other corporations, like club memberships or personal flights on the company jets, except for matching contributions to the 401(k) plan. In Chambers' case, that amounted to $11,025.
For the full fiscal year, the San Jose, Calif.-based company earned $7.8 billion on $40 billion in sales, compared with $6.1 billion on sales of $36.1 billion in the previous fiscal year. Cisco's stock rose 5.4 percent during the fiscal year.
The Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives' salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.
The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.