Former Borders CEO received compensation worth $805,774 in 2009, down 26 percent from 2008

Former Borders CEO gets $805,774 pay in 2009

NEW YORK — Former Borders Group Inc. CEO Ron Marshall received compensation in 2009 valued at $805,774, about 26 percent less than he made in the prior year, according to an Associated Press analysis of an SEC filing on Monday.

Marshall, who vacated the CEO position this January after only a year at the bookseller’s helm, received a salary of $750,000. He also was paid other compensation worth $55,774, including $30,334 for relocating and $21,676 as a reimbursement of legal fees for negotiating his employment contract.

That is down about 26 percent from the $1.08 million he was paid in 2008 when he joined the company, which mainly included a signing bonus and stock option awards.

Marshall left Borders in January to head up supermarket retailer Great Atlantic and Pacific Co. Chief Merchandising Officer Mike Edwards has been serving as Borders’ interim president and CEO while the No. 2 traditional bookseller tries to find its fourth CEO in five years.

Borders has struggled with profitability, hurt by tough competition with discount stores and online retailers like Amazon.com. The company, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, earlier this year announced layoffs and a new financing plan.

Borders last week reported a yearly loss of $109.4 million, or $1.82 per share, compared with a loss of $186.7 million, or $3.10 per share, in 2008. Revenue fell 14 percent to $2.82 billion from $3.28 billion.

However, the company’s shares nearly tripled over the course of 2009 to finish the year at $1.18. The stock has since risen to the $2.70-range.

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company’s board placed on the executive’s total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations don’t include changes in the present value of pension benefits, making the AP total different in most cases than the total reported by companies to the Securities and Exchange Commission.