Ford CEO’s 2018 compensation at $17.7M

Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Jim Hackett’s compensation rose about 6 percent in 2018, a year the CEO characterized as “mediocre by any standard” for the automaker.

Hackett received $17.75 million in total compensation, up from about $16.7 million in 2017. Increases to the CEO’s salary, stock awards, perks and benefits offset a reduction in bonus payments, according to a regulatory filing Friday.

Hackett, 63, is leading an $11 billion restructuring of Ford that involves slashing jobs, closing plants, updating an aging lineup, exiting the North American sedan market and pouring billions into electric and self-driving cars. Last year, net income fell by more than half, as Ford lost money in every region of the world other than North America. The company’s shares fell 39 percent as Wall Street criticized Hackett for moving too slowly and failing to explain his turnaround plan.

In an internal memo sent in January, Hackett said Ford should have earned roughly double the profit it posted for 2018 and told employees to “bury the year in a deep grave.” The company slashed the CEO’s bonus for the year by 28 percent after falling short of targets for revenue, earnings margins and operating cash flow.

Ford reported in its proxy filing that Hackett’s annualized pay was 276 times the $64,000 earned by the company’s median-salary worker.