Bonus Boosts USA Networks CEO’s Pay to $2.6 Million

USA Networks Inc. Chief Executive and Chairman Barry Diller was paid $2.6 million in 2000, almost double his pay from 1999, as USA Network’s shares fell about 30% last year.

The bulk of Diller’s pay last year came from a $1.7 million bonus, his first in four years. He also got a salary of $500,000, plus $463,299 in other compensation, according to USA Network’s proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last year’s bonus was more than his entire pay package in 1999, when he earned $1.4 million in salary and other compensation.

Diller 59, last was paid a bonus in 1996, when he was given $1.6 million in addition to his regular salary, according to previous USA Network proxy filings.

Victor Kaufman, 56, who was appointed vice chairman of USA Interactive in October 1999, got $2.6 million in salary, bonus and other compensation in 2000. He also was awarded a 10-year grant of options to buy 750,000 USA Networks shares with an exercise price of $18.63.