Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 18, 2024.
Halil Sagirkaya | Anadolu | Getty Images
Sales team Investors voted against the company's executive compensation plan after shareholder advisory groups raised concerns about stock options granted to CEO Marc Benioff.
According to a regulatory submission On Monday, the decision to approve the compensation received 339.3 million votes in favor and 404.8 million votes against at the annual meeting held on Thursday.
The board had urged shareholders to vote in favor of the resolution. But two shareholder advisory firms, Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services, both recommended that investors reject the measure.
For fiscal 2024, Benioff received $39.6 million in total compensation, up from $29.9 million the previous year. While Benioff’s salary remained flat at $1.55 million, he received additional stock and option awards and non-equity incentive plan compensation, according to the proxy statement. The most recent amount also included security expenses that had not previously been billed to the company.
In January, the board of directors' compensation committee awarded Benioff a second long-term capital award of $20 million, in recognition of the company's “successful transformation actions and strong financial performance in the fiscal year,” among other factors.
Glass Lewis wrote in its recommendation that “shareholders might reasonably be wary of the significant discretionary stock awards” made to Benioff in January, adding that there was “no fully compelling rationale” behind the awards.
Benioff was already one of Salesforce's largest holders, with a stake of more than 2% worth nearly $6 billion. Glass Lewis said in its proxy paper that the additional performance-based restricted stock units and stock options were “unwarranted” because his interests were already aligned with those of shareholders.
The vote at the annual meeting is not binding.
“Our Compensation Committee, which is responsible for designing and administering our executive compensation program, values the views expressed by our shareholders and will consider the outcome of this vote when making future decisions about executive compensation,” Salesforce’s board of directors said in the company’s press release. power of attorney declaration.
The company declined to comment.
Salesforce shares rose 67% in the fiscal 2024 year ended Jan. 31, the strongest performance since 2011.
Net income rose to $4.1 billion in the fiscal year from $208 million a year earlier, while revenue rose 11% to $34.9 billion from $31.4 billion. In January 2023, Salesforce announced plans to lay off 10% of its workforce after activist investors began buying up shares, demanding a better mix of profits and growth. Salesforce said in February it would start paying dividends to shareholders.
Salesforce shares have fallen 2.6% so far this year.
