Publix CEO’s compensation up 28 percent last year, filing says
Publix CEO Todd Jones made $2.48 million in total compensation in 2017 in his first full year as the head of Florida’s biggest supermarket chain, a 28 percent increase over the year before.
The company filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday morning that said Jones is the highest paid executive at Publix with a $2 million base salary, $316,000 in bonuses and $160,000 in other compensation.
It was the first full calendar for Jones as president and CEO of the Lakeland-based company after he took over for Ed Crenshaw, who retired in May 2016. Publix spokesman Maria Brous said Jones requested not to get a raise last year and the increase was due to working a full year in the new position.
Crenshaw made $1.25 million in his final full year as CEO and president of Publix Supermarkets. Jones is a 38-year veteran employee of Publix, who started at a store in New Smyrna Beach and rose through the ranks to become the first chief not related to founder George Jenkins.
Jones’ pay details were released a week after Publix confirmed that it was raising the pay scale for employees at the supermarket chain.
The new pay scale for employees ranges starts at $9 an hour for part-time employees and $10 for full-time workers, according to documents provided to the Sentinel by Publix workers.
The chain also reported a record profit of $2.3 billion in 2017, which included $224 million in savings from the corporate tax law passed in December.
Publix’s next highest paid executive, Chief Financial Officer David Phillips, brought in $1.36 million in total compensation with a base salary of $1.09 million, according to the financial filing. Chief Information Officer Laurie Douglas made $1.2 million, general counsel John Attaway Jr. made $903,333 and senior vice president David Bornmann made $638,572.
While Jones compensation did get a boost in 2017, it’s still lower than CEOs of other grocery companies, such as Kroger, where Chief Executive Officer Rodney McMullen brought in $10 million in 2016, the last year on record. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon made $22.4 million in 2016.
In the financial statement, Publix said its compensation for its executive team was 42 percent lower than executives in its peer group, including Kroger and Weis supermarkets.
Publix has 1,172 stores in seven states and 188,000 employees.
Jones also owns about 71,000 shares of Publix stock, which is worth nearly $3 million. Among its employees and directors, director Hoyt R. Barnett, a former Publix executive and husband of Publix heir Carol Jenkins Barnett, owns 25.3 million shares worth about $1.1 billion.
Jenkins Barnett was listed as Central Florida’s only billionaire on Fortune’s list of billionaires released this week, with a net worth of about $1.53 billion.