The McClatchy Co. paid four high-ranking executives a total of $719,000 in bonuses for their effort last year, according to documents filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Frank Whittaker, vice president of operations, received the largest bonus -- $220,000. He was followed by co-vice president of operations Bob Weil at $200,000, while chief financial officer Patrick Talamantes received $170,000. Vice president of news Howard Weaver received $129,000.
Last month, McClatchy chairman and chief executive officer Gary Pruitt was awarded a $950,000 bonus, slightly less than his annual salary of $1.05 million for last year.
The Sacramento-based newspaper publishing company -- the parent company of the Wichita Eagle and 30 other daily newspapers -- completed a $4.5 billion deal last summer for Knight Ridder Inc. Pruitt and fellow executives oversaw the complex deal, highlighted by buying and selling 12 former Knight Ridder-owned newspapers including the Akron Beacon Journal, San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times and Philadelphia Inquirer.
In December, McClatchy announced it would sell its largest newspaper, The Star Tribune of Minneapolis, for $530 million to Avista Capital Partners. McClatchy (NYSE: MNI) paid $1.2 billion for the newspaper in 1998, but gained $160 million in tax advantages, making the deal valued at $690 million. The money would help McClatchy trim more debt.
Shares of McClatchy dropped 62 cents -- or more than 1.6 percent -- to $37.71 in trading midday Tuesday, close to its 52-week low of $37.56.
[Source: Wichita Business Journal, Tuesday, February 27, 2007]
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