Electronic Arts (EA) has published the earnings of its Named Executive Officers (NEO) in FY2024. In the 12-month period, the publisher recorded an annual net booking of $7.43 billion and cut 5% of its global workforce.
However, the talking point has been how much its named executive officers gulped in the period. EA’s six named executive officers took home a cumulative $60 million. The highest earner on the list was the company’s CEO Andrew Wilson who gulped $25.6 million—almost 5 million higher than the previous fiscal year.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson
The revelation was contained in the company’s Proxy Statement, a 168-page report that details its executive compensation plan. The total earnings by the executives include a base salary, stock awards, and incentive plan compensation.
For example, Wilson earned a base salary of $1.3 million and received $20.4 million in stock awards. Furthermore, he earned $3.44 million through a non-equity incentive plan. Those in addition to other payments (including almost $500,000 in personal security benefits) brought the total to $25.6 million.
It was noted that Wilson helped the publisher to accomplish “key strategic and operational objectives” including the launch of the EA Sports FC brand which was necessitated by the fallout between the video game publisher and the global soccer governing body.
Wilson was also praised for steering the company through “a year of continued employee satisfaction scores above industry benchmarks” as well as strategically aligning studio leadership to “support franchise development and success”.
During the same period, EA explained that its annual total compensation for its median employee was $148,704. The difference between Wilson’s earnings and that of a median staff is staggering. Putting figures to it, Wilson earned 172.4 times more than a median staff in the company.
Second on the highest earner log was the President of EA entertainment, technology, and central development, Laura Miele. She earned a base salary of $820,385, stock awards worth $10.05 million, and non-equity incentive plan compensation of $1.2 million which brought her total earnings to over $12 million.
Miele was praised for overseeing the launch of new titles including Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, overseeing plans to “deliver AI-driven business and development efficiencies”, and leading the central development services and technology organization.
