Together, the three top executives at The New York Times — chairman and Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Times Co. CEO Mark Thompson and Vice Chairman Michael Golden — made $11.9 million in 2013, Jennifer Saba reports. “As a percentage of revenue, Times Co’s compensation is more generous than at six [media] companies and less generous than at three. But as a percentage of free cash flow, it far outranks every company, in many cases by a long way.”
-
- Thompson, left, and Sulzberger in Paris last October. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
Sulzberger and Golden are members of the Ochs-Sulzberger family, which controls Times Co.’s preferred stock (and only those stockholders can vote on executive compensation). “In particular, Golden’s compensation raised questions, given his job as head of the Times Company’s human resources and modest international operations,” Saba writes. The company has posted better financial results since it shed non-core businesses like The Boston Globe and its share of the Red Sox, but “The levels of compensation don’t seem to match the company’s current size,” compensation expert Paul Hodgson tells Saba.
Sulzberger made “roughly $5.3 million” in 2013, down from $6.9 million in 2012, Joe Pompeo reported in March.
C.E.O. Mark Thompson, meanwhile, made $4.6 million in 2013, which was his first full year with the company. Vice chairman Michael Golden made a little under $2 million, while chief financial officer Jim Follo took in $1.8 million and general counsel Kenneth Richieri $1.3 million.
