Total compensation: $2,830,334 for the year ended Feb. 24, 2018
Salary: $1,126,923
Nonequity incentive pay: $1,676,854
Other compensation: $26,557
Exercised stock options: $0
Value realized on vesting shares: $0
New stock options: 35,903
Total fiscal 2018 shareholder return: -50.2 percent
CEO pay ratio: 170:1
Median employee pay: $35,086
Note: Supervalu has been working on a strategic transformation since 2016, the year Gross became president and CEO.
Total compensation for Gross of $2.8 million increased from the $1.2 million he took home the previous year — thanks in part to new incentive measures put in place that recognize achievements on the strategic transformation goals.
Gross earned an annual incentive bonus of $1.7 million, compared with a $191,000 award the year before. The compensation committee also gave Gross a 15 percent increase in his base annual salary rate.
Metrics for the 2018 annual incentive compensation plan included sales and earnings measures and a metric that measures advancements on business-transformation targets. The financial metrics hit 93 to 94 percent of the targeted amounts for the year, but the compensation committee approved a 200 percent payout on exceeding the business-transformation goals.
Progress toward the goals included acquiring California-based Unified Grocers and Associated Grocers of Florida and making improvements to Supervalu's balance sheet. Earlier this year, the company also announced the sale of its Farm Fresh retail and pharmacies and plans to sell its Shop n Save division.
Still, the company's stock had a negative total return of 50.2 percent for the fiscal year ended Feb. 24, and none of the executives were able to exercise any of their fiscal 2018 stock options.
Nonprofit leaders say they have had to lay off staff and take other measures to shore up finances as the Trump administration’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have chilled corporate giving and led to cuts in federal and state grants.
