Eastman Kodak Co. tripled Chief Executive Antonio Perez’s compensation to $10.4 million last year as he took charge of the photography company during its difficult digital transition.
Perez drew a $1.05 million salary, a bonus of $2.36 million and $1.48 million in tax reimbursements and other cash-based benefits, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He also got $1.6 million in restricted stock awards and 435,000 stock options valued at $3.44 million.
“About 70 percent of his estimated long-term compensation was associated with his promotion to CEO,” Kodak spokesman David Lanzillo said Monday.
A former Hewlett-Packard stalwart, Perez, 60, took the reins last June from Kodak veteran Daniel Carp in a handover that had been on the cards ever since Perez’s arrival in April 2003. He also succeeded Carp as chairman at the start of this year.
Midway through a four-year makeover, Kodak is generating more annual sales from digital imaging than from film-based photography but is struggling to turn profits from its new businesses. It lost $1.37 billion in 2005 even while digital sales exceeded sales from film and other chemical-based businesses for the first time.
Kodak, however, has climbed to No. 1 in sales of digital cameras and digital X-ray systems in the United States and leads the world in sales of photo kiosks, thermal home printers and online photo services.
Perez earned $2.3 million in salary, bonus and other compensation in 2004 as well as 90,130 stock options. The ultimate value of his options will depend on Kodak’s future performance.
In his final year with Kodak, Carp got a $1.1 million salary, a $2.5 million bonus in 2005 and 200,000 stock options valued at $1.6 million.
Kodak acknowledged in 2003 that its analog businesses were in irreversible decline and outlined a strategy to become a digital front runner in photography, health imaging and commercial printing by 2007.
It embarked on a nearly $3 billion shopping spree but also began closing film, paper and other raw-materials plants around the world. By 2007, its work force could plummet to World War II levels of under 50,000, down from 75,100 in 2001 and a peak of 145,300 in 1988.
