General Mills CEO earned $12.3 million last fiscal year

Jeff Harmening, chairman and CEO of General Mills Inc., saw his compensation rise more then 70% in the past fiscal year as the company hit all of its financial goals.

Note: Adjusting to a volatile operating environment, responding to inflationary cost increases and adapting to industrywide supply-chain disruptions were keys to General Mills' success in its last fiscal year. The company exceeded financial targets for the year, which meant executive bonuses were higher.

Harmening's total compensation amounted to $12.3 million, a more than 70% increase from the $7.2 million he realized the prior year. More than half of his fiscal 2022 compensation, $7.2 million, came from previously issued stock options or restricted shares that he exercised or vested during the year. Harmening's annual cash incentive of $3.55 million increased by $1 million from the previous year.

The pandemic changed consumer eating habits and people ate at home more often. With that in mind the compensation committee set financial targets for fiscal 2022 that projected a 2% decline in organic sales growth and a 2.9% decline in adjusted operating profit.

For the short-term cash incentive, 80% is based on those two financial targets. The other 20% is based on achievements of individual goals, which include strategic initiatives, organizational development such as diversity and inclusion metrics and more.

General Mills' financial performance over the previous three years also determines the amount executives earn from performance share units and those shares earned the maximum, 200% of the targeted number, for Harmening.

Harmening is chairman and CEO of General Mills. A shareholder proposal asks the company to split the chairman and CEO role and whenever possible make the chairman an independent director. The company recommends a vote against it.