Times execs break bank

Cuts barely make a dent in salaries

By Jessica HeslamTuesday, April 5, 2011

New York Times Co. honchos took slight pay cuts but still scored staggering multimillion-dollar compensation packages last year even as the beleaguered Big Apple broadsheet’s circulation continued to fall.
Times publisher Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger Jr. was the highest paid bigwig, raking in just over $6 million in total compensation in 2010, according to the company’s latest annual meeting and proxy statement sent to investors.
Sulzberger’s pay took a paltry $62,523 hit from the year before.
Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson was runner-up, pulling in $5.28 million last year in total compensation compared to the $6.7 million she brought home in 2009.
Meanwhile, the newspaper’s weekday circulation fell to 906,100 last year from 959,200 the year before, a roughly 5 percent drop. The Sunday circulation fell to 1,356,800 from 1,405,200.
The hefty compensations come to light as the Times — which owns the Boston Globe — is asking online readers to fork over the dough for content. The newspaper rolled out a pay system last month, and readers have to sign up for online subscriptions after reading 20 articles a month.
“A lot of companies, despite the top line (revenue) problems, met or exceeded their bottom line (profit) budgets because of cost cutting, because of growth in digital — various reasons,” said Edward Atorino, a media analyst at the Benchmark Co.
“Even though the top line didn’t look great, if they made or beat the (previous year’s) bottom line, they have to share in their success,” Atorino added. “They don’t measure success on revenues. They measure success on profits.”
Another Times honcho, COO Michael Golden, took in $2.19 million total compensation last year. CFO James Follo pulled in $1.8 million while New York Times [NYT] president and general manager Scott Heekin-Canedy earned $2.37 million.
“The New York Times Company had a very profitable 2010 and our senior managers received awards according to their executive compensation program,” the Times said in a statement.

Commentary

Didn't the New York Times owned Boston Globe just go through the ringer literally just last year and their union of all things the Boston Newspaper Guild.