Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Sees Bonus Rise

By Shira Ovide 

Salesforce.com Inc. CEO Marc Benioff's bonus rose 67% from a year ago, to $2.82 million, during a year when the software company's stock price fell 7%. The company also described an unusual arrangement for its former CFO to stay on past his planned retirement.

Salesforce disclosed the annual bonus awards for Mr. Benioff and other senior executives on Wednesday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing for the year ended Jan. 31.

Salesforce typically releases its annual proxy statement in the spring, including the directors' explanation of what they paid executives and why. The filing Wednesday said the bonuses were "based primarily on the achievement of specific corporate performance goals as well as individual performance." Salesforce usually bases executive bonuses on how well the company performs compared with target levels of revenue, operating cash flow and operating income excluding some items.

In the SEC filing, Salesforce also disclosed that Graham Smith, the former chief financial officer who planned to retire this week, instead will stay with the company as an adviser. He will continue to earn the salary, target bonus, stock-award vesting and perks he received as CFO.

A Salesforce spokeswoman declined to comment on Mr. Benioff's compensation or why Mr. Smith was staying at the company or for how long.

Mr. Smith announced in February 2014 his plan to retire after a one-year transition period. His official retirement date was on March 31, 2015. His replacement, Mark Hawkins, started on the job August 1, 2014.

Salesforce had agreed to pay Mr. Smith a compensation package that the company valued at $5.3 million for the year ended Jan. 31, 2014. His bonus for that year was $650,000, or 16% more than the year earlier.

In the filing, Salesforce said Mr. Smith would stay at Salesforce as an executive vice president, and he would advise Mr. Benioff "on projects reasonably assigned to him by the CEO." Such projects would include activities of Salesforce's charitable foundation, according to the filing.

Write to Shira Ovide at [e-mail]

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