Given Imaging Ltd. (Nasdaq: GIVN; TASE: GIVN) may or may not be up for sale, and there may, or may not, be talks on a deal. The life sciences company, one of the oldest Israeli firms listed on Nasdaq, is finding its feet, and it is not clear where it will end up. What is clear is that its president and CEO of the past seven years, Homi Shamir, has gotten rich while the company's share price lost a third of its value under his stewardship.
Last week, Given Imaging, which has developed and sells the diagnostic PillCam endoscopic camera for the intestinal tract, filed its F-20 report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in which it disclosed Shamir's salary cost. His basic salary totaled $432,640 in 2012, and he received a cash bonus of $515,923. He also received 30,000 vested convertible units, which are currently worth about $500,000. Vested units are free capital compensation, in contrast to options or shares for which a realization fee has to be paid.
An examination by "Globes" found that since Shamir took up his post in April 2006, he has accumulated NIS 30 million in capital. While this amount is not large for a company of Given Imaging's size and accumulated over seven years, but when compared with the yield Shamir has generated for shareholders during his tenure, NIS 30 million might be an amount that ought to cause the company's directors to squirm.
The 30% drop in Given Imaging's share price during Shamir's seven-year tenure contrasts to Nasdaq's overall 39% gain.
The "Globes" investigation also found that Shamir has enjoyed consistent salary and bonus hikes during his tenure, as well as changes in the capital composition from stock option grants to vested stock grants. His starting salary in 2006 was $330,000, rising to $400,000 in 2007, and $416,000 in 2008. During the 2009 credit crisis, he gave up 10% of his salary, but this did not materially affect his circumstances. A year later, he won a 4% pay hike on his early full salary, not the reduced salary of 2009, to $432,640. His cumulative pay hike in 2006-10 was 31%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 11, 2013
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