Charter Communications chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge extended his employment contract with the cable company through 2024, seeing his annual salary increase by about 25% to $2.5 million.

Rutledge, who joined Charter in 2012, has helped steer the company through the purchase of Time Warner Cable in 2016 and transformed the cable operator into one of the premier pure play distribution companies in the sector. Charter stock is up about 20% this year and has risen nearly ten-fold since he joined the company.  S hares were up 4.2% ($24 each) to $600 per share in early trading Thursday. His old employment deal was set to expire at the end of this year. 

“More time in the salt mine,” Rutledge joked about his new employment deal on a conference call Thursday to discuss Q3 results, where the company continued its  torrid growth streak, adding 537,000 broadband customers and 67,000 video customers.

Related: Charter's 'Giffen Good'

As part of his new deal, Rutledge’s annual salary will rise 25% to $2.5 million from $2 million. In addition, he will be eligible for an annual cash bonus of up to 300% of his annual base salary. On Nov. 3, he will also receive $30 million in stock option awards, and will receive the same amount annually in each year of his employment deal. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on the employment deal, each stock option grant will vest on the third anniversary of the grant date, subject to Rutledge’s continued employment or an earlier qualifying termination of service.

In the event that he is terminated involuntarily without cause, Rutledge would receive cash severance of 2.5 times his annual base salary and bonus, a prorated annual bonus for that year,  a cash payment equal to the cost of COBRA coverage for 30 months, and continued vesting of the stock options awarded during the term of the agreement.

Charter Communications executives saw their total compensation plunge in 2017 – due mainly to the lack of massive one-time stock option awards – with chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge taking a $91 million haircut in a year that saw cable operators across the board struggle with the new pay TV paradigm.

Rutledge made $7.8 million in total compensation in 2017, a far cry from the $98.5 million he received in 2016, which made him the highest paid executive in media. The difference was in option awards – he received $77.9 million in 2016, nothing in 2017. The cable chief also did not receive stock awards in 2017, compared to $10.1 million in 2016. His base salary, at $2 million, stayed the same.

Other Charter executives also saw their big declines in total compensation, including chief operating officer John Bickham, whose total take fell from $47.4 million in 2016 to $4.9 million in 2017, and chief financial officer Christopher Winfrey. Winfrey’s compensation dropped from $29.2 million in 2016 to $2.1 million in 2017, while senior EVP David Ellen’s haul fell from $22.1 million in 2016 to $3.1 million in 2017. Lack of option awards were again the culprit – $35 million for Bickham, $23 million for Winfrey and $17.8 million for Ellen in 2016. None of those executives received option awards in 2017.

Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge’s total compensation was relatively flat in 2015 at $16.4 million, just 2% higher than the $16.1 million he received in 2014.

For the most part, other Charter executives were in the same boat, with the total compensation of Charter’s five top executives up between 1% and 3%. Charter, which agreed to purchase Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks last May, is close to receiving approval for the deal from the Federal Communications Commission, with chairman Tom Wheeler expected to circulate an order approving the merger to other commissioners to vote on as early as this week. 

Rutledge’s salary remained the same at $2 million in 2015, and he received stock awards of $999,925 for the year, down slightly from the $999,995 he received in 2014. Option awards were  $8.99 million for the year – in line with 2014 and Rutledge received $4.2 million in non equity incentives, up from $3.8 million in 2014.   

Chief operating officer John Bickham’s total compensation was up 1.2% to $8.7 million from $8.6 million in 2014, while chief financial officer Christopher Winfrey saw his total compensation rise 2.8% from $3.6 million in 2014 to $3.7 million in 2015. Rounding out the team, EVP and president, commercial services Don DeTampel received a 2.8% raise to $3.7 million from 3.6 million , and EVP and chief marketing officer Jonathan Hargis’ total compensation stayed even at $3.5 million.

Viacom has extended CEO Philippe Dauman’s employment contract another two years, through Dec. 31, 2018. Dauman’s existing deal was scheduled to expire in 2016.

The move is not unexpected. Dauman was named CEO in 2006 after a period of turmoil at the top ranks when former CEO Tom Freston was let go.  Dauman has been a long-time adviser and confidant of Viacom’s executive chairman and founder Sumner Redstone, helping the former movie theater magnate acquire the company in 1987.

“Philippe has been my long-term partner in building Viacom into the global entertainment powerhouse that it is today,” Redstone said in a statement. “He has been an extraordinary CEO over more than eight years and his strategic vision and creative leadership have delivered consistently outstanding operational and financial results. I am delighted that Philippe has agreed to lead Viacom well into the future.”

Under the terms of the new agreement, Dauman’s base salary will remain unchanged and he will continue to be eligible for performance-based compensation and equity awards.

Dauman is one of the highest paid media executives in the country – he received $37.2 million in total compensation in fiscal 2013.  

“Under Philippe’s capable leadership, Viacom has excelled during a time of great change,” said chair of the compensation committee of Viacom’s board of directors Fredric Salerno in a statement. “He is an outstanding strategic and operational executive, and we are confident that he will continue to lead Viacom to new levels of success in the years to come.”