Bracken Darrell’s rescue mission at VF Corp. has led him to a $13.5 million, stock-heavy payday.
Darrell stepped in as president and chief executive officer in July and has been working to reshape the once high-flying company, which fell on hard times as Vans struggled and debt to buy Supreme strained the balance sheet.
As CEO, he has reviewed the company’s portfolio and plans to sell off brands (Supreme among them, according to sources) and has made a variety of top management changes.
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The work of reviving VF is very much under way and Darrell’s pay package for fiscal 2024 is designed to sync up his fortunes with those of shareholders. The bulk of his compensation came in the form of stock and option awards that together were valued at $12.5 million. How much of that he actually realizes will depend on VF’s future stock performance.
Darrell also received a salary of $919,945 and other compensation of $138,890, which included $105,500 in personal use of company aircraft. That’s one perk that’s now gone away as VF has eliminated its “corporate aviation” program as part of its push to operate more efficiently.
The CEO’s pay was disclosed in VF’s proxy statement to regulators, which sets up the company’s shareholder meeting on July 23 and also included a letter to shareholders from chair Richard Carucci.
Carucci was clear-eyed on the company’s recent results, but voiced support for Darrell and his efforts to set a new course.
“I would categorize fiscal 2024 as a year of weak business performance, but important progress,” Carucci told fellow shareholders. “On a like-to-like basis, revenues declined about 10 percent, with the largest declines at Vans and North America. This led to a significant reduction in profitability and further weakened our stock price. This business performance is below our standards and not consistent with our rich history.”
On the plus side, he said the company has managed inventory well, driving cash flow and reducing debt by more than $500 million.
“Bracken has deep experience in executive leadership, product innovation and brand management with a proven track record of reinvigorating brands and businesses,” Carucci said. “He has completely reshaped the leadership team, both by attracting experienced and well-respected leaders who have the skills necessary to deliver the turnaround while also promoting internal talent to key roles. He also implemented an Americas commercial platform modeled after our successful structures in Europe and Asia. We now have the right leaders in place to meet our expectation to drive strong sustainable growth and create significant shareholder value.”
