- Financially troubled Hasbro, Inc. may have frozen the salaries of chairman Alan Hassenfeld and former CFO Alfred J. Verrecchia and did not award either of them a bonus for 2000.
But, that didn’t stop Verrecchia from taking home nearly $1.94 million last year from direct and indirect compensation as well as gains from exercised options, a 40 percent increase from his 1999 total earnings.
The Pawtucket, R.I.-based toy maker paid the 35-year Hasbro veteran, now the company’s chief operating officer and president, $665,201 in salary and $12,964 toward the purchase of an automobile and the use of financial planning and tax preparation services. He also received $300,000 in restricted stock awards and $81,168 in “other” compensation, which included a company contribution towards a retirement savings plan.
He also realized gains of $879,382 from exercised options. Verrecchia’s total compensation for 2000 was $1,938,715.
In 1999, Verrecchia earned $665,201 in salary, $662,000 in bonus, and $56,165 in other compensation. He did not exercise any options that year. Total Compensation: $1,382,366.
Verrecchia joined Hasbro in 1966 as a part-time junior accountant while he was a student at the University of R.I. Over the years, he moved up through the ranks, taking on various financial positions such as controller and treasurer. In August 1999, Verrecchia was named CFO, replacing John T. O’Neill, who retired.
And then just one year later, while still maintaining his CFO post, he was promoted to president and COO, a position that had temporarily been managed by Hassenfeld after Herb Baum had retired.
On February 15, Hasbro appointed David Hargreaves to take Verrecchia’s CFO position. Hargreaves joined Hasbro in 1982 and has held a variety of financial positions, including head of finance for the company’s U.S. toy, international, and operations groups. Most recently, he served as deputy CFO.
As the new CFO, Hargreaves has the challenging task of helping to return Hasbro to profitability. Earlier this year, the company announced plans to cut 850 jobs across all divisions after announcing in December that more than 100 jobs would be eliminated.
Last year, Hasbro racked up a $23 million net loss on sales of $3.8 billion. In 1999, the company earned $286 million on $4.2 billion in revenue.
According to the company, these numbers reflect a “significant decline in Furby and Star Wars.” “A host of factors contributed to a loss year that we view as an aberration when you look at our performance over the long term and the record results of 1999,” said Hassenfeld, in a press release at the time. “However, our international business continued to be strong, with revenues from international customers up almost 17.8 percent in local currencies and 8.7 percent in U.S. dollars.”
Hasbro shares are currently trading around $12.57, down from the high $30s back in 1999.