Hormel CEO's pay fell 42% in last fiscal year

James Snee

Hormel Foods Corp.

Chairman, president, CEO

Note: Snee realized $7.7 million in total compensation for Hormel's fiscal year-ended Oct. 29. That was 42% less than he did the previous year when he exercised more options. In the prior year his total compensation was $13.3 million.

For the most recent fiscal year, Snee and other executives earned smaller annual incentive pay than the prior year after the company achieved approximately 79% of its annual incentive targets for the year that included revenue, earnings and asset metrics.

Snee had earned annual incentive pay of $4.8 million, down from the $5.4 million earned the prior year. The biggest change was the amount of previously issued stock options that Snee exercised: $1.6 million in the most recent year compared to $6.7 million in stock option gains the prior year.

In the prior fiscal year, the board of directors added some environmental, social and governance (ES&G) goals to its annual incentive plan. The ES&G goals included targets for more women and underrepresented minorities in salaried positions. According to the proxy, Hormel was over the goal in some cases and below goals in others and resulted in a payout that was 69% of the target.