Starbucks CEO Schultz earns $15 million in fiscal 2009, up from previous year as profits climb

Starbucks CEO earns $15 million in fiscal 2009

CHICAGO — Starbucks Corp. CEO Howard Schultz received compensation the company valued at nearly $15 million during the past fiscal year, an increase of nearly 54 percent as the company’s profit soared after it cut costs and jobs, according to a regulatory filing.

Schultz’s base salary at the world’s largest coffee company declined nearly 46 percent to $643,594 after he requested the coffee company’s board cut his salary to $6,900. He received the reduced salary for only part of the year, from April 1 until November 30. The fiscal year that is covered in the filing submitted Friday afternoon to the Securities and Exchange Commission ended Sept. 27.

Unlike in 2008, Schultz received a $1 million bonus, according to Friday’s filing. But the bulk of the compensation earned by the 56-year-old, who is also the company’s founder and chairman, came from restricted stock and options valued at $12.4 million. That’s about 54 percent more than the $7.9 million he received in 2008 in stock and options.

Much of that increase came because Schultz didn’t participate in the company incentive bonus program, and instead elected to receive his annual long-term incentive grant in the form of stock options.

Schultz also received other perks valued at $935,676 during the fiscal year. The bulk of that paid for personal and home security services, valued at $643,594.

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company’s board placed on the executive’s total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

The calculations don’t include changes in the present value of pension benefits. And they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the SEC, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive’s compensation in the previous fiscal year.

For the full year, the Seattle company earned $390.8 million, or 52 cents per share. That’s up nearly 24 percent from last year.

Revenue for the year slipped 6 percent to $9.77 billion. Excluding restructuring costs, the company’s full-year profit was 80 cents per share.

During the year Starbucks cut costs, laid off workers and reinvented much of the food sold in its shops. It shut roughly 800 locations and tweaked prices for some drinks.

Starbucks shares fell 77 cents, or 3.2 percent, to, $22.91 in trading Friday.

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