How much does it cost to save a dying company? Well according to a 6-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC for short, it’s actually worth $85 million. Well that’s how much BlackBerry is paying its new interim CEO John Chen, who it hopes can use the recent $1 billion investment to help the company once again be a darling of the mobile industry.
In his pay packet, John Chen will receive 13 million shares of restricted BlackBerry stock, which he will gradually receive over the next five years, rather than getting access to it straight away. The reason for giving the Chen shares rather than straight up cash is the fact that his perfomance will directly make the share price go up or down, meaning if he puts BlackBerry back up top he’ll receive a significant pay out after the five year period, but if he fails and BlackBerry crumbles, he’ll receive very little.
On top of that Chen will receive a base annual salary of $1 million, with an additional $2 million reserved for bonuses based on performance. Of course if he doesn’t do a good job the board could just fire him, but he’s entitled to up to $6 million in termination fees.
Source: ZDNET