Barrick Gold chairman’s total compensation boosted in 2016

Bloomberg

Barrick Gold Corp. awarded Executive Chairman John Thornton $8.5 million in total compensation last year, more than double what he received in 2015 when he gave up his bonus in the wake of investor criticism of pay packages at the world’s largest gold producer.
Thornton received a salary of $2.5 million, long-term incentives of $5.32 million, $307,198 in other compensation and a pension value of $375,000, the Toronto-based miner said in a regulatory filing. “A significant majority” of the long-term compensation “must be used to purchase Barrick common shares, which must be held until the later of three years and the date he retires or leaves the company,” Barrick said in the filing.
Under Thornton, who is a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. president, Barrick has emerged from a multiyear strategy to cut costs and sell assets to lower its debt. The miner’s shares more than doubled last year.
Thornton elected to forfeit $3.4 million of incentives for 2015, which means he received $3.1 million in total pay for the year. His total compensation in 2014 was $12.9 million, which included $9.5 million of incentive pay.
According to the filing, Barrick President Kelvin Dushnisky was awarded $5.21 million in compensation for 2016, including a salary of $905,760, share-based awards of $2.47 million and $1.41 million in incentive compensation. His total pay is up 20 percent from 2015.