IRS documents: Retired financial exec surpasses Krzyzewski as highest-paid person at Duke

Documents: Duke paid Krzyzewski $4M in 2008-09

RALEIGH, N.C. — A retired Duke University financial executive has surpassed Mike Krzyzewski as the highest-paid person by the school — for one year, anyway.

The Associated Press on Tuesday obtained Duke’s most recent IRS documents for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2009.

Krzyzewski received nearly $4.2 million in total compensation in 2008-09 with a base salary of nearly $2 million and about $1.8 million in bonuses and incentives, according to the IRS Form 990 documents filed last month. Nearly $420,000 was listed as deferred compensation.

The Hall of Fame coach annually ranks as the highest-paid employee at the school, which has a longstanding policy of not discussing contracts or salaries.

Previous filings showed that Krzyzewski was paid more than $3.6 million during 2007-08 and about $2.2 million the year before that.

Documents indicate that Duke paid Eugene McDonald a lump-sum deferred compensation payment of $5.5 million in 2008-09 that accrued during 23 years. McDonald retired nearly 10 years ago after creating and heading Duke Management Co., the school’s endowment investment office.

The documents also show football coach David Cutcliffe was paid nearly $1.6 million. That includes a base salary of $1.19 million and incentives totaling roughly $300,000. That fiscal year included Cutcliffe’s first season coaching the Blue Devils in 2008.

Athletic director Kevin White received a base salary of roughly $410,000. A sum of $1.12 million was paid to Notre Dame as part of his buyout clause, but IRS rules require that it be shown as compensation on the form because it was paid on White’s behalf. White left Notre Dame for Duke during the summer of 2008.

The salaries were first reported by The News & Observer of Raleigh.