21st Century Fox executive chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son, CEO James, saw their fiscal 2016 total compensation rise in the double-digit percentages, according to a proxy statement filed with the Securties and Exchange Commission Friday.
Rupert Murdoch, who handed over the CEO reins to his sons James last year, his other son Lachlan was named executive chairman as well, received $34.6 million in total compensation in fiscal 2016, 24% increase from the $27.9 million he received in fiscal 2015. The biggest difference for Rupert being a near doubling of his pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation to $11.1 million from $5.6 million a year earlier.
For James, who has taken an increasingly visible role in the company along with his brother – they both were instrumental in the recent ouster of Fox News Channel chairman Roger Ailes, received $26.4 million in total compensation in fiscal 2016, a 75% increase over the $15.1 million he received in the prior year. James Murdoch’s biggest increases cane in the form of stock awards ($10.1 million vs. $5.4 million in 2015) and pension value and deferred compensation ($5.6 million vs. $916,000).
Lachlan Murdoch, who rejoined the company in 2014 as non-executive chairman after nine years away running his own investment firm in Australia, made $23.7 million. The proxy did not list compensation for Lachaln for fiscal 2015.
Fox SVP and chief financial officer John Nallen received $12.1 million in total compensation for the year, up 47.6% from $8.2 million in fiscal 2015. Former executive vice chairman Chase Carey, who agreed to become chairman of Liberty Media’s Formula One Group once that deal closes, received $29.2 million in total compensation, up 26% from $23.2 million the year before. According to the proxy statement, Carey has been a consultant to 21st Century Fox and a member of its board of directors since July.
