In a rare move, GE says that its top leaders will not get bonuses after the company’s terrible year.
No past or present CEO, CFO, vice chair, general counsel or HR director will receive a bonus in 2017, GE said in a corporate filing on Monday, which cited the company’s “poor performance.”
There was one exception made for the head of GE’s aviation unit, the company said, which “performed very strongly in 2017.”
“The last year has been a difficult one for GE’s shareowners, and no one is more disappointed in our results than your Board of Directors,” GE said in the filing, which provides information to shareholders ahead of the company’s annual meeting in April.
The change is a big one for a company that has always richly compensated its C-suite. Still, the company reported that compensation for CEO John Flannery is 157 times that of the company’s “median employee,” a healthcare worker in Germany.
Jeff Immelt, who was CEO of GE for more than 15 years before he stepped down last August, received a $4.3 million bonus in 2016. His total annual compensation, including stock options and his pension, was estimated at more than $21.3 million.
The prior year, Immelt’s compensation was worth almost $33 million, including a $5.4 million bonus.
Flannery, Immelt’s replacement, hasn’t fared as well. He won’t get any bonus on top of his $1.7 million salary. The company puts his total compensation at $9 million for 2018.
Immelt will still receive $8.1 million in salary, pension and “other” compensation for his work in 2017.
General Electric has had a dismal year. The sprawling conglomerate faces a number of challenges, including a cash crisis and a struggling power division. The Securities and Exchange Commission is also investigating the company.
— CNNMoney’s Matt Egan contributed to this report.
