You might have heard that your Starbucks coffee is getting more expensive because of the rising price of beans.

But there may be another reason: The big pay that the coffee giant scoops out to CEO and founder Howard Schultz.

All told, Schultz got $65 million last year. At, say, $3.25 for a tall latte, that’s 20 million cups of joe. But the total is only one of several reasons the Starbucks chief is my latest One-Percenter of the Week, msn reported Jan. 27.

First, his triple-espresso pay puts him in an elite group of $50-million-plus CEOs. His basic pay alone, called "direct compensation," was nearly $16.4 million, 55% higher than the median S&P 500 CEO pay of $10.6 million for 2010 (the latest year available) as calculated by Equilar, an executive compensation research firm. The rest includes $36.8 million from cashing out options, and a "retention bonus" of $12 million.

Second, that $12 million retention bonus is a mystery to me, for a number of reasons. Schultz founded Starbucks, and he has faithfully served as the company's chairman since 1985. He returned as CEO in 2008, when the company was struggling. He also has huge exposure to the company's stock, owning 30.6 million shares.

That’s plenty of reason to stick around, and he’s not about to run off and work for Green Mountain Coffee Roaste. So paying him a retention bonus is like giving a New York Giants fan free tickets for the Super Bowl, then throwing in cash as an incentive to actually go to the game. Not needed.

Third, he’s not exactly hurting for cash. According to the company, Schultz recently owned $117.4 million worth of vested stock options, and another $51.7 million worth of unvested options. "Vested" means that he is free to cash out the options if he wants. His company-paid home-security costs alone, at about $200,000, are around four times the typical household income in the U.S. But at least it is down from the $681,000 in home-security costs the company paid in 2009, points out ISS Proxy Advisory Services.

Fourth, there’s the vast pay gap between Schultz and the bulk of his employees. According to PayScale.com, which estimates industry pay levels, Starbucks baristas and food managers make $24,800 a year, on average, excluding any income from stock-options programs. This means Schultz makes over 660 times more than his baristas and other workers, a ratio well more than twice the typical CEO-to-worker pay imbalance.

Even assuming he works an 80-hour week and took only two weeks off, Schultz made $4,100 an hour, compared to a typical barista wage of probably around $12 an hour. "I wonder how Starbucks’ baristas feel" about Schultz's pay, asks Lisa Lindsley, who monitors CEO pay closely as director of capital strategies at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Now, to be fair: Schultz founded the company, and his return to the CEO slot seemed to turn it around, so he's created plenty of jobs for 99%-ers. The company employees about 200,000 people and it added 3,700 net new jobs last year, says Jim Olson, a Starbucks spokesman. The company plans to open at least 200 new stores in 2012 and redesign 1,700, which will create thousands of jobs, says Olson.

Starbucks also says the retention bonus for Schultz was a way to "recognize his leadership in the transformation of the company," and also a way to ensure he continues to lead Starbucks "through the next phase of critical growth." Olson notes that 89% of Schultz's pay is linked to company performance, so his level of pay is partly a reflection of how well he's done as a CEO and how much the stock has gone up as a result. Starbucks stock advanced about 45% last year, compared to flat returns for the S&P 500.

Those stock gains are due to solid performance. Most recently, total sales increased 16% to a record $3.4 billion in the fourth quarter, and sales at stores open more than a year were up an impressive 9%, on a 7% increase in traffic. Earnings were up 11%, in part because Starbucks didn't pass through all of the bean-price increases to consumers, sharing a little of the pain with shareholders in the form of lower profit margins. And the company opened 241 new stores, net, reaching 500 stores in mainland China and Latin America.

스타벅스 CEO 작년 보수 6천500만달러


스타벅스의 하워드 슐츠 최고경영자(CEO)가 지난해 본봉과 보너스 등으로 모두 6천500만 달러(약 730억 6천만 원) 이상을 받은 것으로 나타났다.

미국 CNN 머니는 스타벅스가 미 증권거래위원회(SEC)에 제출한 자료를 인용해 슐츠가 기본급 140만 달러와 290만 달러의 보너스, 그리고 장기 성과 보수로 1천200만 달러를 지급받았다고 보도했다.

여기에 인재를 묶어두려고 지급하는 이른바 '잔류 보너스'(retention bonus) 1천200만 달러와 스톡옵션 3천680만 달러를 합쳐 모두 6천500만 달러 이상을 받은 것으로 나타났다.

스타벅스는 자료에서 슐츠가 "탁월한 경영 실적과 지도력을 발휘했기 때문"이라고 이처럼 엄청난 보수를 지급한 이유를 밝혔다고 CNN 머니는 전했다.

스타벅스는 지난 26일 2012사업연도 1분기(1월 1일까지의 13주간) 실적을 공개하면서 순매출이 16% 증가해 기록적인 34억 달러에 달했다고 밝혔다.

순익은 10% 증가해 3억 8천200만 달러로 집계됐다.

CNN 머니는 스타벅스가 '사업 다각화' 명분으로 맥주와 와인 판매를 본격화하고 미국 북동부 일부 매장의 음료 가격 인상도 발표한 점을 상기시켰다. (연합뉴스)