Inuvo Execs See More Pay

Inuvo CEO Richard Howe

Things are looking up for every officer at Inuvo Inc. of Little Rock; each saw his pay increase in 2017, according to an annual proxy statement the company filed a few weeks ago.

That is also notable because all three saw their pay decline in 2016 compared with 2015.

The company with ties to former Acxiom Corp. CEO Charles Morgan, who is a shareholder and serves on its board, saw revenue increase by 11 percent year-over-year in 2017 to $79.6 million. But Inuvo also recorded a loss, of $3.1 million.

The company touted 19 percent revenue growth for the first quarter of 2018, which ended March 31. First-quarter revenue increased to $20.5 million from $17.2 million in the same quarter of 2017. The company reported a loss of $1.4 million too, but that was a $285,000 improvement from the year before.

CEO and Chairman Richard Howe was paid $1.12 million in total compensation in 2017, up from the $1.02 million he was paid in 2016 and just shy of his 2015 pay of $1.13 million.

He received a $420,000 salary, $245,000 bonus, $442,175 in stock awards and $10,800 in other compensation.

Howe’s salary increased from the $395,000 Inuvo reported for 2016, but his 2017 stock awards dipped slightly, from $524,482.

However, the CEO’s bonus last year was more than double the $87,500 he received in 2016.

CFO Wallace Ruiz was paid $548,719 in total compensation, which was up from $491,109 in 2016 but less than his 2015 pay of $566,619. His 2017 salary of $275,000 was unchanged from 2016.

Ruiz’s bonus increased from $37,500 to $105,000, but his stock awards dipped by about $12,000 from 2016 to $157,919 in 2017.

COO Trey Barrett saw his total compensation increase to $603,560 from $512,642 in 2016. That is also more than the $595,156 he was paid in 2015.

His salary of $250,000 didn’t change, but his bonus rose from $50,000 in 2016 to $140,000 in 2017. Barrett’s stock awards increased too, by $1,653 to $210,560.

Inuvo also announced in the proxy that it would hold its stockholders meeting on June 28. Shareholders will vote on re-electing two members of Inuvo’s board and on reappointing Mayer Hoffman McCann PC as its independent registered public accounting firm.