Seacor Holdings chief executive Charles Fabrikant has regained his title as the compensation king of public US-domiciled shipowners having pocketed total earnings of $4.4m in 2018, public filings reveal.
Fabrikant easily topped Eagle Bulk chief executive Gary Vogel ($3.5m) in second place.
And runners up included Overseas Shipholding Group chief executive Sam Norton ($3.3m); Seacor chief operating officer Erik Fabrikant, Charles’ son ($2.75m); International Seaways chief executive Lois Zabrocky ($2.4m); and Genco Shipping chief executive John Wobensmith ($2.2m).
Buoying Fabrikant’s position was a $2.2m cash bonus, the largest for any US-domiciled filer and half of his overall package.
Bonus breakdown
Seacor notes its long-time leader receives only 60% of his bonus immediately, with the remainder paid on the first and second anniversaries of the grant.
Fabrikant came only fourth in base salary of $400,000 — down from $700,000 the previous year. Vogel led the way with $675,000, followed by Wobensmith at $650,000 and Zabrocky with $600,000.
The US numbers mean that Fabrikant bettered the leading earner among London-listed shipping companies for 2018, which once again was Clarksons chief executive Andi Case at £2.76m (about $3.58m), down from £3.04m the year before.
Vogel’s pay as the US runner-up was virtually even with Case’s latest package.
Number crunching
Fabrikant’s 2018 numbers were down from $5.27m the previous year, when he missed out on the top spot to Wobensmith who had earned $5.4m.
Wobensmith’s total had been boosted by one-off payments of restricted stock and options related to changes to his employment contract.
In 2018, OSG’s Norton benefited from a similar situation. This was in part driven by investors who suggested that Norton should have more of his pay awarded in stock, which would help him to align his goals more closely with their own.
Stock and options
Under the change, Norton received the biggest shares award of any US-reporting officer. He was awarded restricted stock and options worth $2m, nearly doubling the $1.12m he received in 2017.
Stock grants are assigned an estimated value under financial accounting standards, but the ultimate value of the grants can be higher or lower based on share performance
Vogel follows Norton in the stock bonus rankings with a combined figure of $1.92m, up from $1.3m a year earlier.
Fabrikant took $1.7m on the same basis, down from $2.3m the previous year.
Wobensmith follows at $1.02m, down from $4.11m 12 months earlier that included the one-off contractual adjustments.
In all cases, stock grants are assigned an estimated value under financial accounting standards, but the ultimate value of the grants can be higher or lower based on share performance.
Of the US companies reporting, diversified owner Seacor has the largest market capitalisation and annual turnover, and as such executive compensation might be expected to skew higher.
Its current aggregate share value is about $815m. In comparison, International Seaways has a market cap of about $590m, Eagle Bulk $390m, Genco $350m and OSG $150m.
Reporting standards
The US-domiciled companies are required to itemise specific compensation totals under US reporting standards, whereas many of the dozens of shipowners listed in New York have no such obligation.
Under softer standards covering foreign filers, they are allowed to list just a lump-sum compensation total for their senior executive team, with no indication of how an individual is paid.
The US figures also do not include cruise operators or offshore-services outfits.
