Andy Jassy’s promotion last year came with a whole lot more than just the new CEO title, it also came with more than $200 million in stock awards.
In Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN, +0.35% preliminary 2021 proxy statement filed late Thursday, the e-commerce and cloud services giant said Chief Executive Jassy’s total 2021 compensation was $212.70 million, up from $35.85 million in 2020.
The total compensation included a base salary of $175,000, which was unchanged, and stock awards valued at $211.93 million, up from $35.64 million a year ago. He also had “all other compensation” of $592,649, including $589,149 in costs to Amazon for security arrangements at business facilities and for business travel.
Jassy was promoted to CEO effective July 2021, as founder Jeff Bezos transitioned to executive chairman. Read more about Jeff Bezos’ transition.
“Faced with the first CEO succession in the company’s history, the Leadership Development and Compensation Committee determined it important to provide for clarity and stability through an award that is designed to establish a long-term owner’s perspective and encourage bold, long-term initiatives, in the same manner that Mr. Bezos’s shares as founder incentivized him to focus on long-term, expansive growth,” Amazon stated in the proxy.
Amazon said the $211.93 million in stock awards for Jassy actually vests over 10 years, with more than 80% of the award scheduled to vest between five and 10 years after the grant.
The company said the stock award is intended to represent most of Jassy’s compensation for the coming years.
As successful as Bezos was running Amazon, Jassy was no slouch as CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud business that saw massive growth under his watch from April 2016 to July 2021. AWS generated revenue of $62.2 billion in 2021, or 13.2% of total revenue, up from $12.2 billion, or 9.0% of total revenue, in 2016. Basically, AWS revenue increased a little more than fivefold the past five years, while total revenue more than tripled, to $469.8 billion from $136.0 billion.
Jassy has already started making his mark on Amazon, as the company announced in February that it bought $2.12 billion worth of its stock year to date, the first time it has repurchased shares since 2012. And while the company was often accused of mistreating employees under Bezos watch, the company now strives to be “Earth’s best employer” with Jassy in charge. That didn’t stop Amazon workers in Staten Island, New York from voting to unionize on Friday.
Separately, Bezos’ new job didn’t come with any more money. His total compensation for 2021 was $1.68 million, including $81,840 in base salary and $1.60 million in all other compensation, exactly the same since 2010.
Amazon’s stock rose 0.4% in afternoon trading Friday. It has slipped 1.8% so far this year after gaining 2.4% in 2021, while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.34% has shed 4.8% this year after running up 26.9% last year.