Las Vegas Sands more than doubled Adelson’s compensation for 2017
Las Vegas Sands more than doubled the compensation it paid to Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Sheldon Adelson last year to $26.1 million after the casino operator slightly beat its 2017 earnings target.
Adelson earned a base salary of $5 million, a cash bonus of $12.5 million, stock and option awards totaling $4.2 million, and $4.4 million in security and health care, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. That compares with a total of $12.7 million in 2016.
Adelson is entitled to a cash bonus of $12.5 million, or 250 percent of his base salary, if the company reaches its yearly target tied to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The company beat its $4.1 billion target last year by 2.8 percent.
Shares of Sands, which owns casinos in Las Vegas, Singapore and Macau, rose 29 percent last year amid strong growth in the Chinese gaming enclave. Macau accounts for more than half of the company’s earnings. Sands shares outperformed the 19 percent gain for the S&P 500.
Sands is not nominating any new members to its board at this year’s annual shareholders meeting, scheduled for June, according to the filing. Sands is recommending that voters re-elect three board members whose terms are ending this year.
The 11-member Sands board includes one woman. Las Vegas casino operators have come under scrutiny for lack of gender diversity on their boards after a sexual harassment scandal at Wynn Resorts.
Sands chooses board members based on experience and skill set, spokesman Ron Reese said.
MGM Resorts recently expanded its board from 11 to 12 by adding Princess Cruises executive Jan Swartz. That boosted the number of women on the MGM board to four.
The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.
Contact Todd Prince at tprince@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0386. Follow @toddprincetv on Twitter. Review-Journal writer Richard N. Velotta contributed to this report.
