Chevron's new CEO gets $1.5 million salary, stock awards

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Chevron Corp said on Tuesday it boosted Chief Executive Mike Wirth's salary by 20 percent to $1.5 million when he took the oil producer's top job two months ago.

Wirth, who has worked at Chevron for more than 35 years and was previously the company's vice chairman, is also eligible for stock awards and other compensation this year potentially worth more than $15 million.

The pay raise came after Wirth's compensation as vice chairman was boosted last year by more than 25 percent, according to regulatory filings.

Wirth earned compensation last year of $11.7 million, up from $6.5 million in 2016. Chevron paid roughly $350,000 last year to bolster security at Wirth's home and about $16,000 for a medical checkup and related costs for its incoming CEO.

 

It is not uncommon for companies to insist on tighter security for incoming CEOs. Chevron, like many peers, also has its CEOs travel on company-owned aircraft, even for personal matters.

Chevron awarded outgoing CEO John Watson $24.8 million in compensation for 2017, roughly 1 percent higher than the prior year, as the company swung to an annual profit of $9.2 billion.

Watson's compensation in 2017 was 180 times larger than the median compensation of $137,849 for Chevron's 52,953 employees.

Chevron will hold its annual shareholder meeting on May 30 at its headquarters in San Ramon, Calif.

Shareholders will consider proposals on climate change and executive compensation, though those votes will be nonbinding.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Cynthia Osterman)