Netflix CEO Reed Hastings saw his total compensation fall from $9.29 million in 2011 to only $5.54 million in 2012, a 40% slide, according to a document the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 26.
Hastings took a pay cut in 2012, after the company stock was badly hurt by the way it handled changes in the pricing of its offerings. That reduced Hastings' salary to $500,000 and annual stock option allowance to $1.5 million in 2012, down from a $500,000 annual salary and a $3 million stock option package in 2011.
The ultimate value of the stock-option package is determined by the performance of the stock.
According a document filed with the SEC, Netflix noted that Hastings made $509,615 in salary, $5,033,860 in option awards and $966 in other compensation for a total of $5,544,441 in 2012.
In contrast, the value of Hastings' option awards was $8,788,080 in 2011, boosting his total income to $9,289,046 that year.
Hastings will do much better in 2013. In December of 2012, the board doubled his compensation package, with an annual salary of $2 million for 2013 and an options package of $2 million.
Other top Netflix executives saw their 2012 compensation increase and chief content officer Ted Sarandos become the company's highest paid executive with a total compensation of $6,472,403.
Chief product officer Neil Hunt made $5,494,742, only slightly less than Hastings.
