By BARBARA ORTUTAY - AP Technology Writer - Associated Press
Friday, March 12, 2010
Shantanu Narayen, the president and CEO of software maker Adobe Systems Inc., was awarded compensation valued at $5.2 million in fiscal 2009, a 68 percent decline in a year that saw the recession weaken demand for its products.
Narayen received a base salary of $875,000 for the fiscal year ended Nov. 27, 2009, according to a proxy statement the maker of Photoshop and Flash software filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This was the same as the salary he received in fiscal 2008.
His perks declined 61 percent to $7,740. The bulk of this was a company 401(k) match and the rest — $390 — a life insurance premium.
Narayen's perks were higher in 2008 because he was awarded $12,710 in tax grossups for Platinum Club, an exclusive trip to reward the company's top salespeople. Narayen had attended Platinum Club as part of his business duties, Adobe said last year.
This was not included in his 2009 compensation.
Making up the bulk of his compensation package, Narayen was granted stock options and restricted stock valued at $4.3 million on the date they were granted, according to an Associated Press calculation.
This is a decline of nearly 70 percent from a year earlier, though at that time the vast majority of the stock options had little value.
In 2008, Narayen's total compensation package was valued at $16.4 million.
The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.
The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive's compensation in the previous fiscal year.
The recession dampened demand for Adobe's Creative Suite 4, the latest version of the software package targeting professional designers and developers that brings in the bulk of Adobe's revenue. It happened to launch in the fall of 2008, right as the financial meltdown hit.
Adobe had posted a 56 percent decline in its 2009 earnings, and its revenue dropped 18 percent. It also reduced its work force by about 1,300 employees, though it gained some from of its acquisition of Omniture Inc.
San Jose, Calif.-based Adobe's shares rose 53 percent during the fiscal year, to close at $35.38 on Nov. 27, 2009.