Things are looking up for every officer at Inuvo Inc. of Little Rock (NYSE American: INUV); each saw his pay increase in 2021, according to an annual proxy statement the company filed a few weeks ago.
CEO and Chairman Richard Howe was paid $2.76 million in total compensation in 2021, up from the $679,642 he was paid in 2020, the year he and other executives took a significant but temporary pay cut to reduce ongoing expenses in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Each of them was granted restricted stock unit awards as an incentive for taking the pay cut.
Howe’s 2021 compensation included:
- A $425,000 salary, up from $389,583 the year before
- A $245,000 bonus, unchanged from 2020
- Nearly $2.09 million in stock awards, up from $35,447
- $7,811 in other compensation, down slightly from $9,612 the previous year
CFO Wallace Ruiz was paid $858,107 in total compensation, which was more than double the $357,210 he saw in 2020.
COO Trey Barrett was paid $848,458 in total compensation, which was more than double the $359,176 he saw in 2020.
Both men saw their salaries increase slightly, to $275,000 from $262,625, and their $75,000 bonuses were unchanged from the previous year. But their stock awards rose to $486,500 from $12,385.
However Ruiz’s other compensation increased to $21,607 from $14,958, and Barrett’s other compensation increased to $11,958 from $9,166.
Inuvo also announced in the proxy that it would hold its stockholders meeting at 9 a.m. June 16 at the company’s office, 500 President Clinton Ave., Suite 300 in Little Rock. Shareholders will vote on re-electing one member of Inuvo’s board and on appointing EisnerAmper LLP as its independent registered public accounting firm. Inuvo's previous firm, Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. resigned in November. The only issues reported in the proxy were internal control issues in 2019 and 2020 that were "fully remediated."
