Benjamin Fowke III, Xcel Energy Inc. chairman, president and CEO
Total compensation: $17,285,689 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017 • Salary: $1,250,000
Nonequity incentive pay: $2,016,563
Other compensation: $54,902
Value realized on vesting shares: $13,964,224
Total 2017 shareholder return: 21.9 percent
CEO pay ratio: 120:1 • Median employee pay: $105,907
Note: Fowke received a $50,000 increase to his base salary and earned $187,763 more in 2017 from his annual cash incentive pay. But his total realized pay went down 6.6 percent because Fowke earned about $1.5 million less from restricted stock that vested in 2017 than in 2016. The long-term equity awards are a mix of time-based restricted stock awards (20 percent) and performance-based awards (80 percent) that accrue over a three-year period and are based on total shareholder return and carbon-emission reductions.
For the 2015-2017 performance period, Xcel exceeded the targeted levels for total shareholder return and carbon-dioxide emission reductions. That earned Fowke and other executives awards near the maximum allowed. Shareholder return from 2015 to 2017 was 48.3 percent, which was the 94th percentile of its peer group.
