Simmons First Proxy: Pay Rise for George Makris, Payments to French Hill in 2014

George Makris

The compensation of the top executive at Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff mushroomed by 135 percent in 2014 to more than $1.5 million.

George Makris Jr., chairman and CEO, had received a compensation package of $643,305 in 2013, when he was CEO-elect.

Markis’ compensation is detailed in Simmons First’s recently released proxy statement. The statement also disclosed compensation paid last year to U.S. Rep. French Hill, the former chairman and CEO of Delta Trust & Bank, purchased last year by Simmons.

Makris, who succeeded J. Thomas May as CEO at the beginning of 2014, realized the biggest boost to his total pay through stock awards valued at $574,536. His base salary increased 24.6 percent to $502,500 and his non-equity incentive payment grew by 115 percent to $323,248.

Other leading compensated Simmons executives include:

• David Bartlett, president and chief banking officer, $915,697, a 4 percent gain
• Marty Casteel, executive vice president, $757,991, an 18 percent boost
• Robert Fehlman, chief financial officer, $755,917, an 8.3 percent hike

Bartlett also realized $291,748 by exercising stock options last year, and Casteel realized $30,228.

French Hill

The proxy also lists compensation paid last year Hill, who remained with Simmons for a few months after its Aug. 31 acquisition of Delta Trust & Bank.

Hill, who was sworn in as U.S. Representative for the 2nd District in January, was paid $1.3 million, including a $885,300 “bonus” that the proxy said was “attributable to the change in control provision of his employment agreement” with Delta Trust.

At the time of the Simmons acquisition, Hill received $2.1 million for his 3.14 percent stake in Delta Trust’s holding company. He also received $1.5 million for his warrants for 5,343 shares of Delta Trust & Banking stock and his options for another 800 shares. That payday also included $422,325 for the accrued value of his supplemental executive retirement plan.

The two largest blocks of Simmons stock are controlled by BlackRock Inc. of New York, 5.03 percent worth $65 million, and Simmons First National Corp. Employee Stock Ownership Trust, 3.3 percent worth $42.6 million.

Shareholders will vote on the proposed increase to double the number of authorized shares from 60 million to 120 million, which suggests that the board hopes to continue using stock to make acqusitions.

The company’s annual shareholders meeting is scheduled for June 18 in the banquet hall of the Pine Bluff Convention Center.

Shareholders also will vote on a slate of directors that was expanded from nine to 13 last year.

Joining the Simmons board last year were Christopher Kirkland, 45, principal of Anchor Investments of Nashville, Tennessee; Joseph Porter, 57, president of Akin-Porter Produce Inc. of Greenville, Tennessee; Mark Doramus, 56, chief financial officer of Stephens Inc. of Little Rock; and Jay Burchfield, 68, chairman of Ozark Trust & Investment Corp. of Springfield, Missouri, which Simmons is in the process of acquiring.

Other members of the board include: Harry Ryburn, 79, retired orthodontist and Simmons director since 1976; Makris, 58, a director since 1997; Steven Cosse, 67, retired president and CEO of Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado and director since 2004; Scott McGeorge, 71, president of Pine Bluff Sand & Gravel Co. and a director since 2005; Robert Shoptaw, 68, retired president of Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield and director since 2006; William Clark, 45, CEO of Clark Contractors LLC of Little Rock and a director since 2008; Edward Drilling, 59, president of AT&T Corp.’s Arkansas region and a director since 2009; Eugene Hunt, 69, a Pine Bluff attorney and a director since 2009; and Bartlett, 63, director since 2013.