By Tess Stynes
Target Corp. (TGT) on Tuesday reported that Chief Executive
Brian Cornell's pay package amounted to $28.2 million last year,
with a make-whole package he received as an incentive to leave his
former post representing the bulk of his compensation.
Mr. Cornell, who joined Target in August from PepsiCo Inc.
(PEP), received make-whole compensation totaling more than $14
million, according to a regulatory filing.
When Target hired Mr. Cornell last year, the discounter
estimated that he would forfeit about $19.3 million in awards from
Pepsi. Mr. Cornell ultimately retained about $5.2 million in
incentive awards from Pepsi, making his final make-whole long-term
incentive equal to roughly $14 million.
Mr. Cornell's pro-rated compensation for the part of the year he
was with Target totaled roughly $5.3 million, including salary of
$595,000.
Target is trying to dig itself out of a hole left by several
years of disappointing results, when the retailer failed to
distinguish itself with enough hip products and found itself trying
to stand out with lower prices on commodities like toilet paper and
laundry detergent.
The long string of weakness--capped by a disastrous expansion
into Canada and a 2013 data breach--caused executives to rethink
Target's purpose and forced the removal of the company's previous
CEO, Gregg Steinhafel.
In February, Target posted its best sales growth in nearly three
years, a sign that shoppers are responding to changes under Mr.
Cornell, such as free holiday shipping and a greater focus on
apparel and home goods.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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