No raises this year for Starbucks' top 4; Howard Schultz not eligible for bonus

Starbucks' top four executives did not receive bonuses last year and will not be given raises this year, the company said in a securities filing Thursday.

The company also wants to let employees exchange worthless stock options for fewer options with lower exercise prices. Only nonexecutive employees would be eligible for the exchange, which must receive shareholder approval at the company's March 18 annual meeting.

In addition, most of CEO Howard Schultz's 2009 compensation will be directly tied to the performance of Starbucks' share price through stock options, the filing said. He will not be eligible for a bonus for this year.

He is among four top executives who did not receive bonuses for fiscal 2008:

• Schultz's total compensation was $9.7 million last year, down from $10.6 million in 2007.

• Martin Coles, president of Starbucks' international business, made $2.7 million, up from $2.4 million in 2007. Coles was chief operating officer part of the year, before returning to his former job as head of international.

• Cliff Burrows, president of U.S. operations, made $2 million, including $176,034 in relocation expenses for his move from London, where he had been president of Starbucks for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

• Gerry Lopez, president of the global consumer-products group, food service and Seattle's Best Coffee, made $1.6 million. No 2007 comparison was given for Lopez.

Two other executives whose salaries were disclosed — former CEO Jim Donald and former chief financial officer Pete Bocian — left the firm last year.

Starbucks also said it plans to create new policies that ensure disclosure of its political contributions and payments to trade associations and other political organizations.

The company is asking shareholders to approve the addition of two new directors this year. Kevin Johnson, CEO of Juniper Networks, and Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, would expand Starbucks' board from nine to 11 members.

Johnson previously worked as president of Microsoft's platforms and services division. Until last year, Sandberg was Google's vice president of online sales and operations. She also was a former chief of staff of the U.S. Treasury, a management consultant at McKinsey and an economist at The World Bank.

For 2008, Starbucks' nonemployee directors were paid $240,000 each, up from $200,000.

Melissa Allison: 206-464-3312 or mallison@seattletimes.com

Information in this article, originally published Jan. 23, 2008, was corrected the same day. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that board candidate Kevin Johnson was CEO of Jupiter Networks. He is CEO of Juniper Networks.