Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) CEO Don Mattrick’s salary package of $57,814,391 this year, has been approved by the board, even though the company is going through turbulent phase and stocks are in red by almost 21% over past six months, says a report from CNBC. In an annual shareholders meeting held at the company’s San Francisco headquarters, a spokesperson stated that all motions were approved and board of directors were re-elected.
Mattrick massive pay package
Mattrick is the second highest paid CEO among all the CEOs in the Bay area, standing second only to Oracle’s Larry Ellison. However, Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA)’s stock lags considerably when it comes to top performers. Mattrick replaced founder Mark Pincus last July, when he took over the reins of the social gaming company. Though the stock has been trading up and down, it remains at the same level where it was when Mattrick took over.
As well as supporters, Mattrick also has critics like Adam Krejcik, managing director at Eilers Research, who stated in a report that they are neutral to negative on Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) and that the pay of CEO is very high. Krejcik stated that the biggest concern is shareholder dilution.
Apparently relatively few shareholders objected to such high pay for Don Mattrick during the annual shareholders meeting. Furthermore, the board must be aware that approving the high pay package for Mattrick would entail a risk, according to F. Daniel Siciliano, professor and associate dean at Stanford Law School’s Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance.
Siciliano said that Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA)’s board “did whatever they had to do to get the right guy and this pay package was what was necessary to make that happen.” Mattrick has also received one-time sign-on bonus of $5,000,000.
Declining share price for Zynga
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) stock has been volatile over the past year or so. Over the past three month,s shares have dropped 44% and have shed more than 16% since the start of 2014. Mattrick accepted the flaws in the company during a recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch technology conference, and said, “We are nowhere near where we should be.”
Analysts are, however, hoping that the stock will perform well in the both medium and long run. UBS analyst said in a report on Tuesday that it “remains constructive over both the medium and longer term.”
