Costco CEO Receives Moderate Compensation

Seattle In line with the company’s reputation for keeping costs low, Costco Wholesale Corp. president and CEO Jim Sinegal was paid far less this year than his CEO peers, getting no raise for a seventh consecutive year, according to the Associated Press.

Sinegal received compensation the company valued at nearly $3.2 million in 2007, according to a proxy statement filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That’s far less than the $8.3 million median pay for CEO in 2006 calculated by The Associated Press.

For fiscal 2007, which ended Sept. 2, Sinegal received a $350,000 salary, an $80,000 bonus, stock awards and options worth about $2.6 million, and roughly $68,500 in perks, including company matches for retirement contributions, life insurance, health-care premiums and a vehicle allowance.

In Tuesday’s filing, Costco noted cash bonuses paid to CEOs at peer companies are substantially higher but that the company’s compensation committee “wishes to respect Mr. Sinegal’s wishes to receive modest compensation, in part because it believes that higher amounts would not change Mr. Sinegal’s motivation and performance.”

In 2006, Sinegal declined a $200,000 bonus—the maximum the company allows—after taking responsibility for errors in the company’s stock-option grants to employees.