Dish Network chairman and CEO Charlie
Ergen and a handful of his top executives saw big cuts in
their overall compensation in 2010,
as the satellite giant continued to
struggle with customer losses.
According to a proxy statement
filed March 23 with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, Ergen
received total compensation
of $797,909 in 2010, a 20% decrease
from the $999,913 he received in
2009. It was the second straight year
of reductions for Ergen — he received
$4.8 million in total compensation in
2008.
Ergen’s compensation consisted
of his base salary — $600,000 — and
$197,909 in “other compensation,”
made up mostly of the use of corporate
aircraft during the year.
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Dish’s top five executives (including
Ergen) took pay cuts in 2010: Chief financial officer
Robert Olson’s total compensation fell 56% to $484,213 in
2010, from $1.1 million in 2009; executive vice president,
programming sales and marketing Th omas Cullen’s compensation
dipped 15% to $455,500 from
$535,964 in 2009; executive vice president
and chief operating officer Bernard
Han saw his total take fall 73%,
to $455,500 from $1.7 million in 2009;
and executive vice president James De-
Franco saw his total compensation fall
2%, to $399,149 in 2010 from $408,323
in 2009. The main culprit of the reductions
is that, save for Olson, no Dish executive
received bonus money or stock
awards in 2010. Olson received stock
options worth $171,790 in 2010 (his
second year on the job), about 80% less
than the $854,165 he received in 2009,
according to the proxy.
Dish had a tough year in 2010 — it
added just 33,000 net new subscribers
after two quarters of losses.
