DETROIT — Ford Motor Co.'s top executives achieved fewer than a quarter of their performance targets in 2020, down from 54 percent the year before, but the automaker's compensation committee changed the criteria for bonuses on the fly to reward some leaders for their response to the pandemic.
Jim Hackett, who retired as CEO as of Oct. 1, received the largest pandemic bonus: $1.26 million. His successor, Jim Farley, received $685,330. Executive Chairman Bill Ford — whose accomplishments cited in the company's proxy filing included being named Industry Leader of the Year by Automotive News — received an extra $405,000.
"Historically, the Compensation Committee has refrained from exercising its discretion to modify the company's incentive programs, but, with management recommendations and advice from the committee's independent consultant, the committee determined that the unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic warranted such an action for 2020," Ford said in the filing.
Overall, Farley's compensation jumped 41 percent to $11.8 million with his promotion to CEO. His pay included a $1.4 million base salary, $5.1 million in stock awards and nearly $4.2 million in other awards, according to the company's annual proxy statement filed Thursday, April 1.
Top executives achieved none of their revenue, cash flow or pretax earnings targets because of the pandemic disrupting production and sales, but they exceeded the company's quality targets. Ford last year recorded its first net loss since the Great Recession — $1.3 billion — mostly as a result of the pandemic, and revenue fell 9 percent.
Hackett's 2020 compensation totaled $16.7 million, down 3.6 percent from 2019, while Bill Ford's declined 4.2 percent to $16 million.
