Failure to hit certain benchmarks held down bonuses paid to top Sprint (NYSE: S) executives this year. In its annual proxy, the company laid out the key operational metrics it had set in the beginning of the year. All of the executives were measured on total revenue, post-paid wireless churn and adjusted OIBDA growth, and on all three, the final numbers came outside of the target range (see this section for explanation)???not really surprising considering the performance of the company in the last year.
In addition to his base salary of $1.5 million, ex-CEO Gary Forsee received a bonus of $1.5 million, though it could have been as high as $2.5 million. Other bonuses were in the range of $330,000 to $630,000, all below what they could have been had objectives been met. New CEO and TV star Dan Hesse received a signing bonus of cash and various stock instruments totaling $10 million. For 2008, his base salary will be $1.2 million.
-- As noted previously, two Sprint board members that had been criticized, Keith Bane and Linda Koch Lorimer are not seeking re-election. However a third, Irvine Hockaday, is still on the ballot.
--There is one issue to be voted on: a holder of 900 shares is hoping to pass a bylaw allowing for any shareholder of any size to hold a special meeting at any time. The company is urging a 'no' vote.