On Monday, CBS President and CEO Les Moonves extended his contract to keep his current position for at least five more years.
In order to woo Moonves to stick around longer than his existing contract, which was set to expire in February 2015, CBS Corp chairman and Moonves pal Sumner Redstone sweetened the deal with a few perks.
“Leslie’s record as a CEO is not only among the best in media, it’s among the best in all of business,” said Redstone earlier this week. “This agreement secures the Company even further into the future, and it also further aligns and strengthens the interests of the chief executive with those of our shareholders.”
Here's what Moonves will collect throughout the next five years at CBS, according to an SEC filing this morning (via Deadline):
- "Moonves will continues to receive $3.5M in annual salary with a $12.0M target bonus."
- "He will pocket $14.5M in restricted stock on top of the restricted stock that he and other top execs receive each year."
- "Will have options to buy $7.5M worth of CBS common shares at today’s closing price, in addition to the annual stock option grants he already collects."
- "If he’s fired without cause, or has good reason to leave before his contract ends, then the company will pay him $10.25M. And if he decides that he’s had it with the network CEO game, he can become a Senior Adviser/Producer." (This provision was in his previous employment contract. But now the term has been increased to four years with an annual fee of $4.5M.)
- "If Moonves leaves CBS for good reason, or the company fires him without one, then he can still collect $10M even if he decides not to serve as a producer for the network."
The new contract will bring Moonves’ tenure at CBS to 22 years, after he initially joined the network in 1995 as president of entertainment.
“I take great pride in all the tremendous success we’ve enjoyed at CBS,” said Moonves this week after agreeing to stay on another five years. “And the good news is that I feel even more enthusiastic about what my terrific team and I will accomplish going forward.”
SEE ALSO: Here's how much the top 15 media CEOs spend on private jets >
Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story »
