General Motors Co. paid CEO Mary Barra and other top management less last year after the board set tougher goals that were unmet despite record profit.
Barra, 56, earned almost $22 million in 2017, down about $624,000 from a year earlier, according to GM’s annual proxy statement.
The CEO’s non-equity incentive plan paid out about $1.8 million less than 2016, and she also was given about $2.3 million less in stock awards.
The drop in non-equity pay was largely due to GM’s board setting more difficult targets. Chief among them was automotive free cash flow, which fell by about $3 billion last year to $5.2 billion, driven by lower automotive earnings and spending on sales incentives.
GM reported record adjusted earnings of $6.62 a share last year.
About 89% of Barra’s compensation is determined by whether the company meets performance targets.
In 2016, GM exceeded goals that determine executive pay by about 69%. Last year, the company was at about 100%, spokesman Tom Henderson said.
Executives weren’t the only ones to see a small cut in compensation. The profit-sharing checks paid out to hourly workers represented by the United Auto Workers union were $11,750 for 2017, down slightly from $12,000 for 2016.
By David Welch
