Most of Schram's pay came from exercising stock options.
Total compensation: $11,717,868 for the year ended Dec. 31
Salary: $999,166
Nonequity incentive pay: $1,102,520
Other compensation: $25,685
Exercised stock options: $7,045,284
Value realized on vesting shares: $2,545,213
New stock options: 81,480
Median employee pay: $59,336
CEO pay ratio: 108:1
Total 2018 shareholder return: -49.0 percent
Note: Schram retired on Nov. 25 and was succeeded by Barry McCarthy, a former executive vice president at Atlanta-based First Data Corp.
Schram became Deluxe's CEO in May 2006. During his tenure leading the Shoreview-based company, he led a shift from the company's legacy check-printing business into small business marketing and web-development services. In the past nine years, Deluxe has increased revenue every year.
In Schram's final year as CEO, he took home $11.7 million in compensation, $9.6 million of which came from previously issued options or stock awards that he exercised or acquired on vesting. He also earned a $1.1 million annual cash incentive bonus that was 87 percent higher than in 2017, as the company's performance against its financial and strategic benchmarks was 85 percent of target.
While Deluxe's shares had a negative total return in 2018, during Schram's 13-year tenure, company shares have performed nearly twice as well as the S&P 500 index.
The Minnesotan who helped start the Bogleheads movement of low-cost investing is battling intestinal cancer. He’s crafting spreadsheets and playing pickleball to the end.
