CEO Pay Watch: Sleep Number's Shelly Ibach made nearly $4.2 million last year

Ibach's pay more than doubled in a year that saw a major product launch, corporate name change and move to a new headquarters.

April 12, 2018 at 3:03AM
Sleep Number president and CEO Shelly Ibach and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell seen at their partnership announcement at Sleep Number on Wednesday, Jan 31, 2018, in Minneapolis. Sleep Number and the National Football League announced today a multi-year partnership aimed at helping to improve playersí performance by maximizing the benefits of a great night of sleep. Sleep Number ñ the Official Sleep and Wellness partner of the NFL ñ will work with players, teams and trainers as the
Sleep Number president and CEO Shelly Ibach, with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in January. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Shelly Ibach, Sleep Number Corp. president, CEO

Total compensation: $4,195,630 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017

Salary: $841,923

Nonequity incentive pay: $1,137,400

Other compensation: $30,363

Exercised stock options: $330,275

Value realized on vesting shares: $1,855,669

New stock options: 53,720

CEO Pay ratio: 140:1

Median employee pay: $52,130

Total 2017 shareholder return: 66.2 percent

Note: It was a busy year for Sleep Number with the launch of a new product line, a corporate name change and a move to new headquarters in downtown Minneapolis.

Ibach's realized compensation for the year rose 167 percent from 2016's total of $1.6 million, thanks mainly to the annual cash incentive pay of $1.1 million earned when the company delivered revenue and profit growth above plan for the year.

Previously issued performance-based long-term equity awards also paid out for the 2015-2017 performance period at 86 percent of the target. The company had above-target revenue growth for the period but underperformed net operating profit targets as it made significant investments to company deemed essential to achieve its long-term strategy.

Ibach and other executives also received a special one-time grant of performance-based restricted stock units in March 2017 that will only vest if Sleep Number's diluted net income per share meets an aggressive target by Dec. 28, 2019. The compensation committee, chaired by Brenda Lauderback, made the award "to create alignment with the long-term goal we have communicated to shareholders, and to ensure that we are appropriately rewarding our senior leaders for achievement of the aggressive long-term plan to achieve EPS of $2.75 by 2019."

It is essentially an all-or-nothing award, there is no sliding scale based on performance. Executives won't realize anything from the special award if Sleep Number does not hit the $2.75 per-share target. Sleep Number finished 2016 with earnings per share of $1.10 and 2017 at $1.55 per share.

The grant-date value of that award to Ibach was $3.1 million, and the Star Tribune will count that as compensation in 2020 if the company achieves that EPS target in 2019. The value is included in the proxy's summary compensation table and the newly disclosed CEO pay ratio of 140:1 was based on a total compensation figure that includes the value of that special award. The company points out in the proxy if that special $3.1 million performance-based stock award had not been granted, the CEO pay ratio would have been 80:1.

about the writer

about the writer

Patrick Kennedy

Reporter

Business reporter Patrick Kennedy covers executive compensation and public companies. He has reported on the Minnesota business community for more than 25 years.

See Moreicon

More from Business

See More
card image
Elizabeth Flores

Blood supplies often run short because fewer people donate over the holidays, leaving some hospitals with less than two-day supplies on hand.

card image