AT&T Chief's Pay Jumped to $32 Million After Hedge Fund Battle
March 11 2020 - 6:19PM
Dow Jones News
By Drew FitzGerald
AT&T Inc. Chief Executive Randall Stephenson received $32
million in compensation last year after a headline-grabbing hedge
fund battle ended up boosting the telecom and media giant's share
price.
Mr. Stephenson's overall compensation climbed 10% in 2019 almost
entirely on the strength of AT&T's stock appreciation. Shares
of the Dallas company gained about 37% during the year.
Pay for John Stankey, the company's No. 2 executive and head of
its WarnerMedia division, rose to $22.5 million in 2019, up from
$16.6 million a year earlier. As with other executives, the media
boss's long-term stock and option awards dwarfed his annual cash
salary.
Former telecom division chief John Donovan's 2019 compensation
jumped to $27 million, including nearly $10 million in other pay
that included a retirement bonus. Mr. Donovan ran the lion's share
of AT&T's operations until his abrupt departure in August.
AT&T later gave Mr. Stankey the additional title of chief
operating officer, a new post that reports directly to the CEO.
AT&T spent the last months of 2019 contending with a public
challenge from hedge fund Elliott Management, which criticized some
of the company's decisions and questioned its handling of Mr.
Donovan's departure.
The standoff ended in a truce that kept top executives in their
posts and spurred a stock buyback plan. AT&T spent $4 billion
retiring its shares in the fourth quarter.
Write to Drew FitzGerald at andrew.fitzgerald@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 11, 2020 18:04 ET (22:04 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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