Norfolk Southern Corp. increased its top executive’s compensation 20.9 percent last year, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.
Wick Moorman received compensation valued at $14.6 million in 2007, according to the proxy statement the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2006, he earned $12.1 million.
Moorman, 56, became the Norfolk-based railroad’s president in October 2004, chief executive in November 2005 and chairman in February 2006.
Last year, Norfolk Southern, the nation’s fourth largest railroad, reported a profit of $1.5 billion, down 1.2 percent from 2006 amid rising fuel costs and reduced freight shipments. Its stock price increased a slight 0.3 percent last year, closing at $50.44 on Dec. 31, 2007.
Moorman’s compensation package included a base salary of $800,000, stock awards of $8.3 million, $2.6 million in stock options, $862,400 from a non-equity incentive plan plus a $1.9 million increase in the value of his pension.
He also received $153,570 in all other compensation last year, including $50,044 for such perks as corporate aircraft use, financial planning, company automobiles and annual physicals; $41,199 to pay taxes on personal benefits; and $31,700 contributed to charities on Moorman’s behalf as part of the company’s matching gift program.
In comparison, Jacksonville, Fla.-based CSX Corp., the other major eastern railroad, paid its chief executive, Michael J. Ward, $16.6 million last year, according to an SEC filing in February.
Norfolk Southern also announced in it proxy statement that its annual stockholders meeting will be held at 10 a.m. May 8 at Norfolk’s Chrysler Museum of Art.
At the meeting, four members of the company’s board of directors are up for re-election: Gerald L. Baliles, a former governor of Virginia and director of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs; Gene R. Carter, executive director of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; retired Navy Admiral J. Paul Reason; and Karen N. Horn, a partner with Brock Capital Group, who was first elected to the board in February to fill a vacancy.
Shareholders will also vote on the accounting firm KPMG LLP as Norfolk Southern’s auditors.
Gregory Richards, (757) 446-2599, gregory.richards@pilotonline.com
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Congratulations on your raise!
And I am sure you found it in your hearts to increase salaries for the workers, lowered health-care costs, and invested in solutions that will most likely result in a stronger industry. Way to go Norfolk Southern!
21 percent... Must be nice to be king. How many millions does it take to ensure top job performance from a CEO?
It sickens me to see so much excess thrown to the few at the top while the workers continually see less and less. What a joke.