Netflix‘s board has approved 2024 pay packages of its top execs, with co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters each receiving target compensation worth $40 million.
For Sarandos, $40 million is the same level of pay he is targeted to receive in 2023, while Peters is getting a 5% step-up from the $34.65 million in target compensation for this year. Peters, formerly chief product officer and COO, was named co-CEO alongside Sarandos in January of 2023. Their total target compensation is dependent on company performance and are not guaranteed figures.
Reed Hastings, who stepped aside as CEO earlier this year, remains executive chairman. His compensation package for 2024 is pegged at a target of $1 million, down from $3 million in 2023. Before he exited as CEO, Hastings’ pay target had been $34.7 million this year, mostly in stock.
Netflix disclosed the target pay packages for top execs in an SEC filing Friday. The company said the board’s compensation committee made several key changes in how the 2024 pay packages are structured.
First, while Netflix used to allow executive officers to choose how their compensation was allocated in terms of cash salary and stock options, the compensation committee “determined to eliminate this program feature to address shareholder concerns that executives could choose all cash compensation.” For 2024, the committee established annual base salaries at $3 million for the two co-CEOs, $100,000 for Hastings as executive chairman, and $1.5 million for the other executive officers.
Second, in terms of stock-based compensation, the Netflix board committee approved grants of “an equally weighted mix” of time-based restricted stock unit awards and performance-based stock awards. In general, the RSUs will vest quarterly over a three-year period, per Netflix’s filing. The performance-based shares will vest “as to 0% to 200% of the target number” of units depending on Netflix’s total shareholder return (TSR) relative to the TSR of the companies in the S&P 500.
The composition of the 2024 pay packages for Sarandos and Peters are identical: Both are set to receive a base salary of $3 million; target cash bonuses of $6 million; and stock worth $31 million. Hastings’ comp breaks down like this: $100,000 salary; $200,000 bonus; and $700,000 in stock.
Also in the filing, Netflix disclosed 2024 target pay packages for two other exes: CFO Spencer Neumann, who is to receive $15 million total ($1.5 million salary, $3 million bonus, $10.5 million in stock), and David Hyman, chief legal officer and secretary, who will see $11 million ($1.5 million salary, $3 million bonus, $6.5 million in stock). That’s a slight increase for Neumann, who 2023 pay was earmarked at $14 million, and the same level for Hyman.
