Viacom CEO Dauman Earns $44.3 Million in Total Compensation for Year

By Keach Hagey 

Viacom Inc. Chief Executive Philippe Dauman earned $44.3 million in total compensation in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, a 19.2% raise from the previous year, according to a regulatory filing.

The compensation package was awarded after a fiscal year in which the media company's share price fell 8%. Viacom, owner of cable channels such as Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central, has faced ratings trouble at its biggest networks and pressures from small cable operators.

Mr. Dauman's compensation is tied to a variety of performance goals, including operating income and free cash flow, the company said in the filing. Viacom's operating income rose 6.4% in fiscal 2014 to $4 billion.

Mr. Dauman, who has been at the helm of the company since 2006, is regularly among the highest-paid U.S. CEOs. In fiscal 2014, he earned a salary of $3.9 million and a bonus of $20 million, according to the company's proxy statement. Other compensation consisted of stock and option awards. Mr. Dauman's total compensation for 2013, including option awards and incentive compensation, was valued at $37.2 million, including a base salary of $3.5 million.

Sumner Redstone, the chairman and controlling shareholder of Viacom, received total compensation of $13.2 million, a 64% drop from what he received the previous year. The change was due to Mr. Redstone's exercising of previously awarded stock option equivalents. Mr. Redstone's salary grew modestly to $1.9 million in 2014 from $1.8 million the previous year.

Earlier this month, Viacom extended Mr. Dauman's contract by two years, guaranteeing his place at the top of the company through 2018.

In response to sharp ratings declines at many Viacom networks, Mr. Dauman has pledged to increase the percentage of ad sales that aren't dependent on traditional ratings from measurement specialist Nielsen to 50% in the next three years, from 30% in the last fiscal year.

Write to Keach Hagey at [e-mail]

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