Jochen Zeitz, the new chief executive officer of Harley-Davidson, is eligible for an additional $1.5 million in compensation under
changes approved by the human resources committee of the company’s board.
When Zeitz took over as acting CEO from Matt Levatich in late February, the board offered him a $3 million bonus if his employment continued until a new CEO was installed.
On Thursday, Harley announced it would
remove the “acting” label from Zeitz’s title and named him president and CEO of the company. He is also chairman of the board.
Under his new compensation plans, Zeitz will now be eligible for a $1.5 million bonus if the board approves strategic and financial plans for the company at its September meeting. The new bonus would take the place of the $3 million bonus the board originally offered and would be paid in February 2021.
But the new plan also grants Zeitz an equity award valued at $2 million in the form of restricted stock units. The award vests after one year and is in addition to a similar $3 million award he received in April as acting CEO. Zeitz will also receive a one-time cash award in the gross amount of $1 million to cover housing and transportation expenses during his tenure in Milwaukee.
Add it all up and his new bonuses total $4.5 million, or $1.5 million more than the $3 million he was previously offered to receive if he remained in the interim post until a new CEO was installed.
The original compensation plan gave Zeitz a $2.5 million annual salary. On April 15, the company announced Zeitz and the board of directors would
forgo salary and cash compensation to help lower costs. The rest of the company’s executive leadership took a 30% pay reduction and other salaried employees took 10% to 20% pay cuts.
In 2019, Levatich had a salary of just under $1.1 million and total compensation of $11.1 million.
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