Viacom's Redstone sees pay rise 77 pct to $36.2M

[unhappycamper]

http://gazette.com/viacoms-redstone-sees-pay-rise-77-pct-to-36.2m/article/feed/81929

Viacom's Redstone sees pay rise 77 pct to $36.2M
Updated: January 24, 2014 at 7:46 pm • Published: January 24, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Viacom Inc.'s nonagenarian founder Sumner Redstone saw his pay jump 77 percent to $36.2 million last year, reflecting a surge in the value of a preferential investment called stock option equivalents.

That's according to an Associated Press review of securities documents filed Friday.

The executive chairman's special investments rose in value by $26 million. They gained $12.9 million in the prior year. Stock option equivalents, like stock options, rise in value when the stock price rises. When they are preferential earnings — as Redstone's are — a company must account for the rise in value as an expense.

Viacom's widely traded Class B shares rose 56 percent over its fiscal year to close at $83.58 at the end of September. A slight uptick in pay TV revenue from networks such as MTV and Comedy Central offset a decline at its movie studio, while the company spent $5.4 billion returning money to shareholders through share buybacks.

[SoCalNative]

1. Meanwhile as an employee of the same company

I got a paltry 2.5% increase...