OLD Media Moves

News Corp. CEO Thomson received $12.5 million in compensation

September 30, 2014

Posted by Chris Roush

Robert Thomson, the chief executive officer of Wall Street Journal parent News Corp., received total compensation valued at $12.5 million during the 2014 fiscal year, according to a proxy statement filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That’s up from the $2.7 million that Thomson  — the former top editor at The Journal — was paid in 2013, the company’s first year as a separate public company. The 2013 compensation is not for a full year.

Thomson’s 2014 compensation included a $2 million base salary and $7.2 million in stock awards. He also received $2.7 million from a non-equity incentive plan. His total compensation also included $255,040 in other compensation.

According to the proxy, Thomson signed an amended employment agreement on Aug. 4 that agrees to pay him a base salary of not less than $2 million, and he is also entitled to receive a performance-based annual bonus with a target of not less than $2 million. Thomson is also entitled to receive annual grants of long-term performance-based equity awards of not less than $4 million.

News Corp., which also owns Barron’s, Marketwatch.com and the Dow Jones financial wire, reported a 4 percent decline in revenues in fiscal 2014 to $8.6 billion.

Read the proxy here. It does not list a compensation package for current Journal editor Gerard Baker.

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