Lee Schram, Deluxe Corp. CEO
Total compensation: $11,264,519 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017
Salary: $967,500
Non-equity incentive pay: $588,256
Other compensation: $21,462
Exercised stock options: $4,848,572
Value realized on vesting shares: $4,838,729
New stock options: 77,700
Total 2017 shareholder return: 9.2 percent
CEO pay ratio: 117:1
Median employee pay: $55,300
Note: Schram has led a multiyear transformation during his tenure as Deluxe CEO, which started in 2006. His take-home pay in 2017 increased 51 percent over the compensation he realized in 2016.
His compensation went up mainly from restricted stock that vested during the year. About 73 percent of the value of his restricted stock that vested in 2017 was from time-based restricted stock awards and the performance shares for the 2014-2016 performance period, paid out at 117 percent.
Schram's annual incentive pay includes enterprise factors tagged to the transformation of Deluxe and well as financial metrics. Schram's bonus decreased by 46 percent in 2017 as the company met the goals for its enterprise factors but missed slightly on financial goals.
For 2017, the compensation committee revised the compensation plan by putting more emphasis on performance measures for Schram's long-term equity awards, decreasing the percentage of time-based restricted stock awards and increasing the percentage of performance-based share awards.
Patrick Kennedy
