Incoming Tyson Foods Inc. CEO Tom Hayes earned $4.6 million in compensation from the company in 2016, according to Tyson’s proxy filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Hayes, who will replace Donnie Smith as CEO on Dec. 31, was Tyson’s chief commercial officer before being named president in June. His salary as CCO was $500,000, and his salary as president was bumped to $950,000.
Tyson announced his CEO salary in 2017 will be $1.15 million. Tyson said in the proxy statement that Hayes wasn’t an official named executive officer but was listing his compensation on an “informational basis only.”
Hayes’ total compensation in 2016 included his aggregate salary of $712,954 from his time as COO and president, $1 million in stock awards and $1.5 million in executive incentives. Hayes was paid $591,568 as a retention bonus from his time as an executive at The Hillshire Brands Co., which Tyson acquired in 2014.
Donnie Smith, who has been CEO since November 2009, received total compensation of $11.4 million, down from the $12.6 he received in 2015. Smith’s salary increased from $1.12 million to $1.17 million, and his other compensation included $3.8 million in stock awards, $3 million in executive incentives and $1.5 million in option awards.
In the proxy statement, Tyson said it had agreed to a three-year, non-compete consulting agreement with Smith in which Smith would be paid his base salary for three years with benefits “consistent with severance.” Smith’s stock options and restricted stock held at his departure would also be vested at 100 percent.
Other executives and their compensation:
- John Tyson, chairman of the board: total compensation of $9.6 million, up from $8.75 million in 2015. Includes base salary of $928,818, up slightly from $910,000 in 2015.
- Dennis Leatherby, executive vice president and CFO: total compensation of $4.3 million, down from $4.77 million in 2015. Includes base salary of $660,390, up from $640,862 in 2015.
- Donnie King, president of North America operations: total compensation of $7.99 million, up from $7.8 million in 2015. Includes base salary of $856,946, up from $831,606 in 2015.
- Noel White, president of poultry division: total compensation of $6.0 million, down from $8.5 million in 2015. Includes base salary of $777,716, up from $753,981 in 2015.
Tyson Foods has scheduled its annual shareholders meeting for 10 a.m. Feb. 9 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Springdale. Shareholders will vote to elect the company’s 11-person board of directors, to ratify PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company’s independent accounting firm and to vote on four shareholders’ proposal, all of which the board of directors oppose.
The proposals include a request Tyson disclose its lobbying activities; that the company reports the steps it is taking to increase diversity on its board of directors; and that Tyson implements a policy to reduce wastewater contamination at company and supplier facilities
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