Broadcom’s Top 5 Most Highly Compensated Executives In 2021

Fiscal 2021 turned out to be a very good year for Broadcom, and its success was reflected in the increased compensation of the company’s top executives between 2020 and 2021.

Keeping Up With Broadcom’s Most Highly Compensated Executives

Broadcom had a very good fiscal 2021, which ended October 31. The San Jose, Calif.-based semiconductor and infrastructure software developer reported net revenue of $27.5 billion, a 15-percent increase over the $23.9 billion the company reported the year before. GAAP net income more than doubled year-over-year to $6.7 billion, while non-GAAP income rose 26 percent to $12.6 billion.

Total compensation for Broadcom’s four of the five executives also saw significant increases over that of fiscal 2020, with only one seeing a decrease in total compensation. And one of the executives, the company’s newly appointed chief financial officer, saw her total compensation rise nearly 2,600 percent.

Interestingly enough, four of the five top executives were new to the list for fiscal 2021 following recent promotions. The exception was Hock Tan, who has been president and CEO since March of 2016.

Here’s a breakdown of the fiscal 2021 total compensation of Broadcom’s top five execs as reported in Broadcom’s 2021 proxy statement as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 18.

Brazeal was new to Broadcom’s highest compensated executive for fiscal 2021. He was promoted to his current position in December of 2021 after spending nearly five years as the company’s chief legal officer.

Brazeal’s fiscal 2021 salary of $500,000 was up slightly from the $485,577 he received in fiscal 2020. He also received non-equity incentive plan compensation of $818,750, up from the prior year’s $544,478.

However, Brazeal for fiscal 2021 received no bonus or stock awards, but he did receive a bonus of $455,062 in fiscal 2020. His “other” compensation fell to $17,400 from $43,490. As a result, Brazeal’s total compensation for fiscal 2021 was $1.34 million, down from the prior year’s $1.53 million, making him the only one of Broadcom’s top five executives to see a fall in total compensation.

4. Kirsten M. Spears, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer

Of Broadcom’s top five executives, Spears saw the greatest increase in executive compensation. Spears was promoted to her role in December, 2020 after spending nearly 8 years as vice president and corporate controller at Avago Technologies which in 2015 acquired Broadcom.

Spears for fiscal 2021 received a relatively modest boost in salary to $392,781, up from 2020’s salary of $332,964. However, she got a huge boost in non-equity incentive plan compensation to $584,233 from the prior year’s $187,205. She also received “other” compensation of $17,596 for her 401(k) plan employer matching contributions, up from $16,904 the previous year.

Spears’ biggest change came from stock awards which totaled $13.5 million, up from zero the year before, making her total compensation for fiscal 2021 $14.4 million compared to $537,073 in fiscal 2020.

3. Thomas H. Krause, Jr., President, Broadcom Software Group

Krause was promoted to his current role in December of 2020 after spending just under five years in various roles including chief financial officer for the company. Prior to that, he spent four years at parent company Avago Technologies.

Krause’s fiscal 2021 salary rose nearly 44 percent over the prior year to $678,462, while his non-equity incentive plan compensation nearly doubled to $1.01 million over the prior year’s $527,638.

Krause received “other” compensation in fiscal 2021 of $17,400 and stock awards of $20.12 million. In total, that gave Krause total compensation of $21.82 million for fiscal 2021, up from $1.02 million the previous year.

2. Charlie B. Kawwas, Chief Operating Officer

Kawwas is also new to the list of top executives at Broadcom after his promotion in December of 2020 to chief operating officer after having spent six years as chief sales officer and before that nearly two years as chief sales officer at Avago.

For fiscal 2021, Kawwas saw his salary boosted to $678,462, up from the prior year’s salary of $496,691. He also received a nice boost of nearly 300 percent in his non-equity incentive plan compensation, which in fiscal 2021 reached $1.52 million, up from $518,478. His “other” compensation rose a mere $300 in fiscal 2021 to $17,400.

However, Kawwas received stock awards of $20.12 million, compared to no stock awards in fiscal 2020. As a result, Kawwas’ total fiscal 2021 compensation reached $22.33 million, up from $1.03 million for the prior year.

1. Hock E. Tan, President and CEO

Hock Tan became Broadcom president and CEO in March of 2016 after a three-year stint as chairman of the board at Integrated Device Technology and a six-and-a-half-year stint as president and CEO at Integrated Circuit Systems.

Tan’s salary for fiscal 2021 was $1.20 million, up slightly from his salary of $1.71 million the year before. However, he saw a significant boost in his non-equity incentive plan compensation to $5.4 million, more than double the $2.5 million he received in fiscal 2020 His biggest boost, however, came from stock awards worth $54.1 million, compared to no stock awards in fiscal 2020 or 2019.

Hock also received “other” compensation of $46,819, which included $2,020 in expense reimbursements for travel to his Pennsylvania residency, $17,400 in 401(k) plan employer matching contributions, and $27,400 for car service. That was down year-over-year from the $71,768 he received in fiscal 2020.

All told, Hock’s total fiscal 2021 compensation reached $60.7 million, which was 15.5 times the total $3.7 million he received in fiscal 2020.