(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Samantha Bomkamp on March 24, 2009.)
NORFOLK, Va. — The chairman, president and chief executive of Norfolk Southern Corp. received compensation valued by the railroad operator at more than $12 million last year, a 3 percent raise from a year earlier, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing Tuesday.
In a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Norfolk, Va.-based company said Charles W. Moorman IV took home a base salary of $950,000 in 2008, compared with $800,000 in 2007. Moorman’s 2008 salary included some money that he had set aside with the company based on his performance in previous years.
He received a performance-based cash bonus of $1.8 million, more than double the $862,400 he received the year before. Moorman got $132,239 in perks, down from $153,570 in 2007. Those perks included $54,345 for use of the company jet, $39,187 in company matching funds for Moorman’s charitable contributions, $17,295 in tax reimbursements, and $4,800 for an annual physical. He also received meals and travel for his spouse and use of some corporate facilities.
The largest portion of his compensation package was in the form of stock options and restricted stock – the awards were worth about $9.2 million on the day they were granted early last year. However, the awards have exercise prices of $50.74, about $17 above the company’s current stock price. That means the awards are currently worth much less absent a substantial rebound in stock price.
He received $9.1 million in stock options and restricted stock the year before.
The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company’s board placed on the executive’s total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, 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, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive’s compensation in the previous fiscal year.
Norfolk Southern’s 2008 profit rose to $1.72 billion, or $4.52 per share, compared with $1.46 billion, or $3.68 per share a year earlier. Revenue rose to $10.66 billion, from $9.43 billion in 2007.