Boeing gives its CEO a $5.3 million perk to stick around longer
Calhoun has guided Boeing through a long - and at times uncertain - recovery
New York: Boeing is giving CEO Dave Calhoun a $5.3 million incentive to stick around to see the recovery that he has promised investors.
The board approved a grant of 25,000 restricted stock units, reflecting its “recognition of and continued confidence in Mr. Calhoun’s strong leadership,” Boeing said in a regulatory filing Friday. The award will vest in two equal installments over the next two years.
The move is a vote of confidence in Calhoun and an indication that the board doesn’t expect to seek new leadership through at least the middle of the decade. He’ll forfeit any unvested shares if he voluntarily leaves Boeing for any reason, including retirement, according to the filing.
Calhoun has guided Boeing through a long “- and at times uncertain “- recovery, since joining the planemaker in early 2020 in the aftermath of two fatal 737 Max crashes. The board raised the then-64-year-old executive’s retirement age to 70 after he’d spent a year on the job, dispelling questions over succession.
While the Boeing CEO endured a barrage of criticism over the company’s lackluster performance early last year, the planemaker’s shares soared after he provided a roadmap to generating $10 billion in free cash flow by 2025 or 2026.
The shares slipped less than 1 per cent Friday in New York.