In a year dominated by its landmark (and pending) $67 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable, Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts received a 5.1% raise in total 2014 compensation, receiving $32.96 million, according to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to the proxy, Roberts’ base salary was up slightly to $2.857 million (from $2.8 million a year earlier) and he received $5.25 million and $5.35 million in stock and option awards, respectively, about even with the prior year. The big difference was in deferred compensation earnings – about $6.5 million in 2014, up from $5.06 million in the prior year.
Comcast announced its purchase of Time Warner Cable in February 2014 and has been going through the federal regulatory approval process ever since. The company has said it hopes to have a decision by the middle of this year.
While Robert’s compensation was up from the prior year (and it was dwarfed by the $156 million Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav received in 2014), he wasn’t the highest paid member of the Comcast management team. That distinction went to NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke, who hauled in $33.9 million in total compensation in 2014, up 9% from the $31.1 million he earned in the prior year.
Vice chairman and chief financial officer Michael Angelakis – who announced earlier this year that he will step down as CFO to head up a new investment fund backed by the company, received $18.87 million in total compensation in 2014, down 2% from the $19.2 million he received in 2013.
Comcast Cable CEO Neil Smit received $23.1 million in total comp in 2014, a 32% raise from the $17.4 million he received in 2013. Smit, who helped steer Comcast’s cable operations to one of its best years ever in 2014, saw his stock awards double to $7.6 million in 2014 from $3.7 million in 2013.
Executive vice president David Cohen, who has spearheaded Comcast’s efforts in Washington through the FCC approval process, saw his 2014 compensation dip 3% to $13.5 million from $13.96 million in 2013.
