Annual Salary of New WD CEO David Goeckeler

David Goeckeler, former Cisco executive, was more recently appointed at Western Digital Corp., as CEO, marking the first time that someone without prior HDD industry experience has been brought in to lead the HDD manufacturer.

According to a SEC filing, he will receive an annual base salary of $1,250,000 and a target annual award opportunity under the company’s short-term incentive plan of 175% of annual base salary (payable on a pro rata basis for FY20).

He will also receive a sign-on cash award of $3,500,000, subject to repayment to the company if he does not remain employed by the company through March 9, 2021, unless the company terminates his employment without cause.

The company will grant him a restricted stock unit award on his first day of employment with a grant date value of $10,000,000 (with the number of units subject to the award to be determined based on the closing stock price of the company’s common stock as of the grant date), granted under the company’s 2017 Amended and Restated Performance Incentive Plan. The restricted stock unit award will vest, subject to his continued employment, in substantially equal annual installments on the first and second anniversaries of the grant date.

The company will also grant him a performance stock unit award on his first day of employment with a grant date value of $20,500,000 (with the number of units subject to the award to be determined based on the closing stock price of the company’s common stock as of the grant date), granted under the 2017 plan. The performance stock unit award will vest, subject to his continued employment, based on the company’s relative total stockholder return performance compared to the S&P 500 Index constituents over a 3-year performance period. The sign-on restricted stock unit award will vest, and the service-based vesting conditions of the performance stock unit award will be waived, if the company terminates his employment without cause.

Goeckeler will not be eligible to receive any additional equity awards under the company’s annual long-term incentive (LTI) program until fiscal year 2021. Subject to approval by the compensation committee, is expected to receive an annual LTI award for FY21 having a date value of $12,000,000, with 40% of such LTI award consisting of a time-based restricted stock unit award and 60% of such LTI award consisting of a performance stock unit award.

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March 6, 2020 | Press Release