After fighting off suitors that wanted to acquire it at twice its current share price, Kohl’s Corporation (KSS), a department store, surprised CFO Jill Timm with what the company calls a special cash award. Kohls plans to give its CFO $900,000 in cash in two tranches; half on January 1, 2024 and half the year after.

Timm was hired as CFO three years ago (November 2019) and has since received total compensation of $11.08 million.

During Timm’s tenure, Kohl’s share price has fallen 42.7%.

Notably, one of the complaints put forward by a potential suitor for Kohl’s is that the Board approved a poorly designed executive compensation program that insufficiently ties rewards to performance.

In explaining why Timm deserved the previously undocumented bonus, Kohl’s stated nothing more than:

“In recognition of the important role you play…”