CEO Pay Watch
Fastenal Co.
Willard Oberton
Total compensation: $1,468,943 for the year ended Dec. 31
Salary: $597,500
Non-equity incentive pay: $867,564
Other compensation: $3,879
Total 2014 shareholder return: 2.4 percent
Note: On Jan. 1, Oberton handed over the CEO title to Leland Hein, who has served as Fastenal's president since July 2012. Oberton will continue to serve as the chairman of the Winona-based company. Oberton has been with Fastenal since 1980 and became CEO of the seller of industrial and construction supplies in December 2002. He was named chairman in April 2014.
Oberton took home $1.5 million during his last year as CEO, up 85 percent from the previous year.
The biggest increase to Oberton's compensation was his bonus, which rose $580,000 over 2013's.
Executive cash bonuses at Fastenal are based on pretax earnings, which rose 10.4 percent in 2014 to $787 million. Fastenal's annual revenue grew 12.2 percent to $3.7 billion.
Fastenal generally pays its top executives an annual salary below the market median. In 2014, executives got larger than usual salary increases; Oberton's base salary rose about 19 percent. According to the company's proxy filed Wednesday, executives were given salary increases "to reduce the ever-widening gap in our overall executive compensation program when compared to other companies we consider peers."
Patrick Kennedy