Car-Mart CEO’s earnings rise

Total compensation hit $4.9M in fiscal 2020, filing shows

The top executive at America’s Car-Mart saw his compensation increase in fiscal 2020, according to the company’s proxy statement filed Wednesday.

President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Williams earned $4,923,841 in total compensation during CarMart’s fiscal 2020, up from $3,095,784 the year earlier. He earned a base salary of $572,894 and non-equity incentives of $133,000. All other compensation was valued at $45,946, and the value of exercised stock awards stood at $4,172,000.

The Arkansas DemocratGazette follows a formula developed by The Associated Press that reflects amounts identified in proxy statements that are actually paid to executives. The formula does not account for change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings.

The company reported that the estimated ratio of the annual total compensation of the CEO to the median annual total compensation of all associates was 106 to 1. The company estimated the annual compensation for all associates at $46,500 for its calculation. The disclosure was required under the Dodd-Frank financial law.

Vickie Judy, Car-Mart’s chief financial officer, saw total compensation of $2,538,353, up from $339,797 the previous year. She earned a base salary of $305,962, a bonus of $107,205, other compensation valued at $35,464 and stock and option awards worth $2,086,000.

Leonard L. Walthall, the company’s new chief operating officer, earned a total compensation package valued at $2,534,676. He earned a base salary of $305,962, a bonus of $107,205, other compensation valued at $35,464, and stock and option awards worth $2,086,000.

Car-Mart’s annual shareholders meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 26 at the company’s new offices in Rogers.

In May, America’s CarMart reported yearly revenue of $744.6 million, up from $669.1 million in fiscal 2019. Net income for the period was $51.3 million, or $7.39 a share, compared with $47.6 million, or $6.73 a share, for the year-before period.

Car-Mart has more than 2,000 employees and operates a total of 149 dealerships in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.