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."