Target's CEO made 719 times the median employee's pay last year
Mark Lenihan / AP Images
- Target CEO Brian Cornell received total compensation of $19.2 million last year.
- The median compensation for associates was $26,696, according to Target's annual proxy statement.
- Cornell's pay is behind Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and ahead of former Costco CEO Craig Jelinek.
Brian Cornell has come a long way since his days of scrubbing Tropicana trucks and coaching high school football to pay his bills.
The Target CEO received total compensation last year of more than $19.2 million, up $1.6 million from the year before, according to the company's annual proxy statement filed Monday with the SEC.
The pay package consisted of $1.4 million in base salary, $14.7 million in stock awards, and about $3.1 million in other compensation.
Cornell also made $303,197 worth of use of Target's company-owned airplane "for security reasons," the filings say.
The 65-year-old New York native is now in charge of 415,000 workers across 1,956 retail stores across the US, and annual revenues of $107.4 billion.
Of those 415,000 workers, the median employee was paid $26,696 last year, up 2.7 percent from the previous year. Cornell's compensation is 719 times that amount.
By comparison, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon's most recently disclosed compensation package was $26.9 million, while Craig Jelinek made $16.8 million in his final year as Costco CEO. Their pay ratios were 976 and 336, respectively.
Under a new calculation that companies are required to disclose as of last year, Cornell saw his net worth grow by nearly $10.7 million last year after adjustments to recognize the gains and losses of his stock awards.
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