When Steve Rendle retired as president, chief executive officer and chairman of VF Corp. last year — which the company described as “by mutual agreement with the board” — he left some potential large equity payouts on the table.
Rendle forfeited stock and option awards valued at $9.9 million when he left in December, according to VF’s proxy statement, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. Rendle did receive a salary of $943,562 and other compensation of $624,475 — including $47,957 to cover paid time off not taken and $456,438 related to a Protective Covenants Agreement he signed. Under the agreement, Rendle agreed to not compete with VF for one year following his Dec. 2 retirement.
Stock and options are typically the biggest chunk of the pay CEOs see, but it is also their most theoretical compensation since the amount of value they actually see depends on how the company and its stock performs.
And VF is going through a tough time right now. Its stock is down nearly 60 percent over the past year after the company struggled with Vans, repeatedly cut its outlook, wrote down the value of its Supreme business by $735 million and ultimately trimmed its dividend payment.
Now the company, parent also to The North Face and Timberland, is being led by interim president and CEO Benno Dorer, the former Clorox Co. chief and longtime board member.
In his new role, Dorer received a salary of $427,397, stock awards valued at $2 million and other compensation of $610,168, as of the end of the fiscal year on April 1.
In May, the interim CEO told analysts: “Fiscal ‘24 will be a year of transition and progress positioning us to accelerate profitable growth in fiscal year ‘25 and beyond. We have an appropriately balanced plan in place for this fiscal year considering our organizational transition. We will show progress in several areas with sensible revenue projections, increased marketing investment and a sharp focus on margin, leading to solid operating profit growth and cash flow generation.”