Seagram Chief Will Get $6 Million in Salary, Bonus

Seagram Co. Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. is guaranteed $6 million in the next two years in salary and bonus payments following the company’s $27.5-billion acquisition by Vivendi, according to a regulatory filing.

Bronfman, who will become vice chairman of the combined company, called Vivendi Universal, will receive an annual salary of $1 million and as much as $3 million a year in bonuses if achievement targets are met. “However, Mr. Bronfman will receive a minimum annual bonus of $2,000,000 for the first two years of the agreement,” the company said in a filing with the U.S.’ Security and Exchange Commission.

“This is perfectly in line with other corporate compensation excesses,” said Michael Kraland, who manages $90 million in stock at Trinity Capital Partners. “Bronfman severely diminished shareholder value running Seagram and therefore gets a guaranteed bonus.”

Seagram’s shares have lagged the gains of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index since Bronfman succeeded his father in June 1994. He has struggled to win investor support for his efforts to transform the liquor business into an entertainment giant.

Shareholders in Vivendi, Seagram and Canal Plus, part of which also is being bought by the Paris-based media and utility company, will meet in December to vote on the acquisition, the filing said.

A Seagram spokeswoman had no comment on the filing. Vivendi spokesman Antoine Lefort confirmed the company made the filing.