MONTREAL — Canadian National executives including now-departed CEO JJ Ruest received significant bonuses last year for the first time since 2018, the Globe and Mail reports.
Ruest, who stepped down in January, received a $2.32 million bonus in 2021 as part of overall compensation totaling $13.55 million. A year earlier, his bonus had been $313,334. No bonuses were paid to top executives in 2019.
Mostly because of the incentive bonus, Ruest’s overall compensation, including share and option awards, increased from $10.81 million in 2020.
The newspaper notes that Ruest’s pay was still far smaller than that of Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel, who received $26.7 million in 2021, including a $2.34 million bonus and share and option awards worth more than $22 million. CP’s board cited the railroad’s successful bid for Kansas City Southern as a major reason for Creel’s compensation.
Ruest announced he would step down last October as the railroad faced a potential proxy fight in the wake of its failed bid for KCS. Tracy Robinson was selected as the new CEO as the railroad reached a settlement with activist investor TCI Fund Management [see “CN names former CP official …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 25, 2022].
Robinson will receive annual compensation targeted at $9.2 million, the same as Ruest’s target figure for 2021. She also received a special “make-whole award” of $1.675 million in cash and stock to reflect compensation she forfeited by leaving her previous job at TC Energy.
