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Hasbro to Pay Dead CEO Nearly $20 Million
Entertainment company will pay the estate of its former CEO the estimated equivalent of 8.4% of 2020 net income.
November 10, 2021
Two days after taking a medical leave of absence, Hasbro’s (HAS) Chairman and CEO Brian Goldner died at age 58. He became CEO in 2012 and transformed the toy company into an entertainment and media firm. In the event of death, Goldner’s Employment Agreement allows for the accelerated vesting of certain equity awards.

Though we won’t know exactly how much Goldner’s estate will receive until Hasbro’s fourth quarter filings, the prior year’s Proxy Statement offers a ballpark estimate. The more than $18.8 million in death benefits reflected in the Proxy are based on a Hasbro share price of $93.15, which is similar to the current share price and slightly higher than on the date Goldner died.

The Proxy detail appears to differ slightly from the terms in Goldner’s Employment Agreement which states that, as long as certain performance targets are met, certain incentive awards are to be prorated. Either way, Goldner’s estate will likely receive nearly $20 million, or the equivalent of 8.4% of Hasbro’s 2020 net income.

In its latest 10-Q, Hasbro warned it may incur additional costs in the search for Goldner’s replacement. Notably, Goldner was not the highest paid executive at the company in 2020. When the company acquired Entertainment One, a production company, it retained the company’s CEO Darren Troop.

While Goldner received total compensation of $16.6 million in 2020, Troop received $23.5 million. This includes more than $200k for a Los Angeles apartment Troop stays at when visiting the company’s headquarters and $45k for a vehicle and parking pass.

In a sign Hasbro may have overpaid for Troop’s studio, the latest quarterly filing reveals Hasbro took a $101.8 million impairment charge on the $397 million sale of Entertainment One’s music assets. If Troop isn’t promoted to the top spot and Hasbro’s next CEO desires to be paid more than his or her lieutenants, Goldner will be seen as a bargain and missed in more ways than one.
Related: MAT, NWL, DIS
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