Gannett CEO Gets $7.9 Million in 2007

By Matthew Barakat, AP Business Writer
McLEAN, Va. (AP) -- The head of the nation's largest newspaper chain received pay and compensation valued at $7.9 million in 2007, 36 percent higher than the previous year, according to an Associated Press analysis of corporate filings released Thursday.

Craig Dubow, chief executive, president and chairman of Gannett Co., which publishes USA Today and 84 other daily newspapers in the United States, received compensation including pay, bonus and stock options valued at $5.79 million in 2006.

The increase came as Gannett stock, like that of other media companies, tumbled over the last year. In the last 12 months, Gannett stock has lost roughly half its value, from about $60 a year ago to $29.97 at the close of business Thursday.

In fact, the decreasing value of Gannett shares means that a large chunk of Dubow's 2007 compensation is currently without value.

The proxy statement filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday shows that $3.35 million -- or 43 percent of his 2007 compensation -- came in the form of stock options granted in February at a strike price of $61.26 per share.

That means the stock options are effectively worthless until their value exceeds $61.26 a share. The options allow Dubow to buy the company's shares at that price.

The proxy statement shows that Dubow's salary and bonus are unchanged from 2006 to 2007, with a salary of $1.2 million and a bonus of $1.75 million. He also received $1.45 million in stock awards and $120,629 in other compensation, including an annual premium on a life insurance policy and home security system allowance.

In the filing, the company states that Dubow and other top executives asked Gannett's executive compensation committee to refrain from increasing the salary or bonus "in light of the challenging business environment we currently face."

The AP's total pay calculations include executives' salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the SEC.