Sprint CEO’s Compensation Rose 31% to $11.9 Million in 2011
Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) the third- largest U.S. wireless carrier, boosted Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse’s compensation 31 percent last year as the company reported its fifth straight annual loss.
Hesse received compensation valued at $11.9 million in 2011, when the company’s shares tumbled 45 percent. That compared to $9.07 million in 2010, according to a regulatory filing today. The executive also received stock awards worth $3.22 million and non-equity incentive plan compensation of $4.84 million.
Sprint last month said it excluded the cost of the Apple Inc. (A) IPhone from its 2011 bonus calculations for eligible employees. The Overland Park, Kansas-based carrier reported widening losses last quarter -- its first offering the IPhone -- signaling the best-selling device may not be helping Hesse turn around the business.
The company sold 1.8 million iPhones in the period, fewer than some analysts projected and trailing larger rivals AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Wireless. The device also ate into Sprint’s margins by boosting its subsidy expenses by about 40 percent.
Sprint and competitors sell the iPhone at a loss to get consumers to sign up for multiyear contracts.
In the fourth quarter, Sprint’s net loss widened to $1.3 billion, or 43 cents a share, from $929 million, or 31 cents, a year earlier.
Sprint rose 4.4 percent to $2.86 at the close in New York. The shares have gained 22 percent this year.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jeran Wittenstein in San Francisco at jwittenstei1@bloomberg.net; Olga Kharif in Portland at okharif@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ville Heiskanen at vheiskanen@bloomberg.net
Dan Hesse
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Dan Hesse, chief executive officer of Sprint Nextel Corp., speaks during a keynote event at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on March 1, 2012.
Dan Hesse, chief executive officer of Sprint Nextel Corp., speaks during a keynote event at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on March 1, 2012. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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