Ambani had joined the Bank of America (BofA) board in March, 2011 and its shareholders approved his re-appointment for another year at the Annual General Meeting last week.
As per a regulatory filing with the US market regulator SEC, Mukesh Ambani was allotted 20,698 BofA shares, worth about USD 1,60,000 (about Rs 86 lakh), on May 9, 2012 -- the same date that he got re-elected as a director.
Ambani got these shares as a part-payment of his annual retainer fee for serving as BofA director, but he also sold 3,919 shares, worth about Rs 16 lakh, on the same day from his holding to meet the tax obligations associated with such stock allotments, the filing showed.
In another SEC filing, the bank said that its shareholders have approved election of 12 directors, including re-appointment of Ambani, for another year with majority.
About 528 crore shares were voted in favour of Ambani's election, while over 13 crore shares were voted against him. At the AGM, shareholders also approved the executive compensation, among various other proposals made by the bank.
Pursuant to the latest allotment and sale of shares, Ambani's total holding stood at 31,675 shares, which would be worth about Rs 1.3 crore (USD 2,50,000) at the current price.
Ambani heads India's biggest private sector entity Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). Last week, RIL said in its annual report that Ambani's total pay package as its Chairman and Managing Director during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, was Rs 15 crore.
Ambani has capped his salary at RIL at Rs 15 crore for the four consecutive years now, although he was eligible for a pay package of about Rs 38 crore during the last fiscal.
At BofA, Ambani was paid a total of about Rs 1.4 crore as director compensation for 2011. This included fees worth USD 92,282 in cash and USD 184,534 through stock awards, leading to a total of USD 276,816 (about Rs 1.4 crore).
Ambani was the fourth highest paid director during 2011, after Charles Gifford (USD 517,190), Charles Holiday (USD 500,000) and Donald Powell (USD 315,000).
About the latest stock allotment to Ambani, BofA said that the "shares represent payment of a portion of the annual retainer as restricted shares under the Bank of America Corporation Directors' Stock Plan", while the shares sold by him were to "satisfy the tax withholding obligation associated with the vesting of restricted stock."
