CBS chairman and CEO Les Moonves received total compensation of $56.8 million in 2015, a 1% reduction from the $57.2 million he got in the prior year, while the company’s largest shareholder, Sumner Redstone, saw his haul plunge 83% to $1.8 million, according to a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday.
According to the document, Moonves received a base salary of $3.5 million, a $19 million bonus (down from $25 million in 2014) and stock awards valued at $25.5 million (up from $14.5 million in 2014). Moonves’ option awards fell to $7.2 million from $10 million in 2014. His pension value also dipped in 2015 to $421,021 from $2.8 million in 2014.
Redstone, in poor health and the focus of a nasty court battle concerning his overall mental competency, took the biggest hit, logging overall compensation of $1.8 million for the year, down from the $10.8 million he received in 2014. In 2013, Redstone received $57.2 million in total comp.
Redstone received the same base salary in 2015 of $1.75 million, but he received no bonus, stock awards and option awards. The 92-year-old media mogul, who relinquished his executive chairman title in February, still controls 80% of CBS’ and Viacom’s voting stock.
CBS chief operating officer Joe Ianniello also took a slight reduction in pay (2%), receiving $26.4 million in total compensation compared to $27.03 in 2014. Senior executive vice president, chief administrative officer and chief human resources officer Anthony Ambrosio received $4.1 million in total compensation in 2015, down 9% from the $4.5 million he received in the prior year, while senior executive vice president and chief legal officer Lawrence Tu took home $7.5 million in total compensation, down 34% from the $11.3 million he received in 2014.
