Boeing’s new CEO Kelly Ortberg received US$18.4 million ($24.48 million) in total compensation for the five months he spent on the job in 2024 — although he won’t be able to cash in on much of the award for years, the company said in a filing Friday.
About US$16 million of Ortberg’s pay came from equity-based incentives that will vest over three to four years and were awarded as he joined Boeing amid a management shake-up and months of crisis.
He also received about US$525,000 in salary and a “new hire” cash bonus of US$1.3 million, according to the filing.
Dave Calhoun, Ortberg’s predecessor, didn’t receive any cash severance when he officially left Boeing on March 1. The former CEO did make US$15 million in total compensation last year — down from a controversial roughly US$33 million payday in 2023.
Calhoun also walked away with about US$20.7 million in equity that will vest over the next 10 years. The value of the roughly 168,000 restricted shares granted to Calhoun over his five years as CEO has shrunk as Boeing’s stock has tumbled, but could be worth far more if Ortberg engineers a turnaround.
A company outsider who joined Boeing out of retirement, Ortberg has stressed the importance of returning the century-old plane-maker to a focus on its engineering roots and bolstering quality in its factories.
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He drove that point home by relocating to Seattle, the company’s manufacturing hub, with Boeing picking up about US$313,000 of the cost for the move, according to the filing.
Ortberg has worked to instill a more open culture and put the manufacturing giant on better financial footing after years of losses. He’s also faced labour strife that shut down the company’s factories for nearly two months, regulators who’ve capped 737 production until quality lapses are resolved and disgruntled customers.
The new CEO has followed through on a plan to use the same measures to determine bonuses for employees company-wide, rather than setting individual goals for different business units.
Dennis Muilenburg, Calhoun’s predecessor, received as much as US$80.7 million when he stepped down in late 2019 amid a crisis spurred by two fatal 737 Max crashes that killed a total of 346 people.
