Sears' CEO Compensated $10 Million for First Year on the Job

By aaroncynic in News on Mar 21, 2012 2:00PM

Last year, Sears was among several big businesses that received millions of dollars in tax breaks in order to keep them in Illinois. While Sears has been struggling to stay afloat, shuttering stores and making other cuts to deal with a net loss of $3.14 billion in revenue last fiscal year, its CEO seems to be swimming along just fine financially. ABC7 reports Sears CEO Lou D'Ambrosio received a salary totaling $9.9 million last year, according to documents filed with the SEC. In addition, D'Ambrosio received a signing bonus of $150,000 and $8 million in stock awards. D'Ambrosio was hired in February of 2011.

Along with a hefty paycheck, D'Ambrosio was compensated for some pretty big expenses. As he lives in Philadelphia, his commute totals about 800 miles, for which Sears shelled out more than $800,000 to cover the cost of a private plane and car travel. Chris Brathwaite, vice-president of corporate communications at Sears Holdings doesn't really see an issue with the massive expense account or $10 million compensation package. Brathwaite told ABC:

“If you add the cost of his commuting and related expenses to his salary and bonus, you will see that this is not out of line with his peers at other major companies (Fortune 100 CEOs, CEOs in Chicago or retail CEOs).”

Braithwaite also noted the $8 million in stock awards is spread out over a three year period.

Gov. Pat Quinn's office released a statement saying that while it doesn't approve of the travel expenses, the $150 million tax cut package is a separate issue which kept jobs in Illinois. Quinn's office will however, keep an eye on the company:

"We are watching Sears carefully and will hold them accountable to live up to their commitment as part of the package. If there is any violation in the agreement on their part- if they did not meet their investment and jobs numbers, for example- the incentive would be eliminated."