Corning Inc. CEO Wendell Weeks received $10.8 million in 2009 compensation

Corning CEO paid $10.8 million in 2009

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Corning Inc. CEO Wendell Weeks’ compensation soared 43 percent to $10.8 million in 2009, a seesaw year in which the specialty glassmaker began by trimming 3,500 jobs but ended with a $2 billion profit, according to an Associated Press analysis of regulatory filings.

Weeks, 50, received the pay hike in the form of a performance-based cash bonus worth $4.82 million, far higher than the $301,584 he got in 2008. Of that, however, $3 million is tied to Corning’s financial progress in 2010.

According to a preliminary filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday, Weeks received a base salary of $1.03 million in 2009, unchanged from 2008 when his total compensation was $7.5 million.

His higher overall compensation in the fiscal year ended Dec. 31 was offset by a 21 percent drop in stock options and restricted stock. They were worth $4.6 million when granted, down from $5.8 million in 2008.

Weeks’ compensation also included $382,471 in perquisites, or “perks,” including $65,022 for personal use of the company’s plane, $232,239 for home and personal security, and $82,225 in company contributions to his retirement plans.

The Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives’ salary, bonus, incentives, 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 that companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the SEC.

Weeks, who also holds the title of chairman, became CEO in April 2005. He succeeded James Houghton, the patriarch of the company that his great-great-grandfather founded in 1851.

Based in western New York, Corning is the world’s largest maker of liquid-crystal-display glass for flat-screen televisions and computers, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the market. While LCD glass is its biggest business by far, the 159-year-old glass pioneer also makes ceramic auto-pollution filters and is the world’s largest producer of optical fiber and cable. It employs 23,500 people.

A dip in the LCD glass market triggered by recession jitters prompted Corning to cut 3,500 jobs in January 2009. But sales rebounded throughout 2009 and the company expects profits to rise moderately this year as the global appetite for LCD-TVs drives an anticipated 14 percent to 22 percent jump in glass industry volume.

In 2009, Corning earned $2.01 billion, or $1.28 a share, down 62 percent from $5.26 billion, or $3.32 a share, in 2008 when it reaped a one-time deferred tax credit of $2.4 billion. Annual sales fell 9 percent to $5.4 billion from $5.9 billion.

Corning shares doubled in 2009 to finish at $19.31 and hit a 52-week high of $20.85 on Jan. 11. They were unchanged Wednesday at $17.61.

On the Net:

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