It sure pays to be one of the most influential companies in entertainment. In a regulatory filing this week, video streaming leader Netflix (NFLX +1.70%) said it was giving hefty pay raises to its most important executives, including co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings as well as Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, who has emerged as arguably the most powerful executives in all of Hollywood.
Here's how much Netflix plans to give its leadership team in 2020.
Image source: Netflix.
Taking home millions
Netflix execs have some say in how their total compensation is split between base salary and stock-based compensation (SBC), according to the tech company's proxy statements. Accordingly, the mix of salary compared to SBC fluctuates, but this is how much the company's C-suite is expected to take home in the coming year.
|
Executive |
2020 Base Salary |
2020 Stock Options |
2020 Total Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
|
CEO Reed Hastings |
$650,000 |
$34 million |
$34.65 million |
|
CFO Spencer Neumann |
$6.05 million |
$5.5 million |
$11.55 million |
|
Chief Content Officer Ned Sarandos |
$20 million |
$14.65 million |
$34.65 million |
|
Chief Product Officer Greg Peters |
$12 million |
$6.9 million |
$18.9 million |
Data source: SEC filings.
For comparison, here's how each of those execs was compensated in 2019, according to the company's most recent proxy.
|
Executive |
2019 Base Salary |
2019 Stock Options |
2019 Total Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
|
CEO Reed Hastings |
$700,000 |
$30.8 million |
$31.5 million |
|
CFO Spencer Neumann |
$5 million |
$5 million |
$10 million |
|
Chief Content Officer Ned Sarandos |
$18 million |
$13.5 million |
$31.5 million |
|
Chief Product Officer Greg Peters |
$10 million |
$6.8 million |
$16.8 million |
Data source: SEC filings.
That means Hastings and Sarandos are each getting a 10% raise in total compensation, while Netflix's new finance chief will enjoy a generous 15.5% bump and its product head will take home 12.5% more than in 2019. Netflix had hired Neumann away from video game maker Activision Blizzard in January.
The significant SBC grants are meaningful because Netflix is facing the most competitive video streaming landscape in its history, yet the leadership team is confident enough in Netflix's prospects to allocate substantial portions of their compensation to SBC. Furthermore, Netflix shares are notoriously volatile.
Rivals are all jumping into the market with new services, some of which are aggressively priced in an effort to lure away subscribers. Within the S&P 500, Netflix was the top-performing stock of the entire decade with gains of over 4,100%.
Netflix recently provided the most detailed breakdown of its subscriber base as it prepares to revamp its financial reporting structure starting with the fourth quarter earnings release next month.
