Netflix hasn't had the best year. Their unpopular decision to raise the cost of streaming services was not well received and cost the company quite a bit due to plummeting stock prices. It seems that CEO Reed Hastings is having some of this disappointment taken out on him with his stock options being halved for 2012.
The information about Hastings 2012 stock options comes from a Securities and Exchange Commission Filing (SEC) dated December 22. In that document it is noted that Hastings will receive $1.5 million in stock option allowance which is exactly half what he received in 2011. His salary was not changed, staying at $500,000.
Interestingly enough it seems Hastings was the only one of the five executives that had his stock options decreased for 2012. All four other executives saw their stock options increase for next year. The salaries of those other four executives were a bit more of a mixed bag with one staying the same, two increasing and one decreasing.
It's also worth noting that Hastings does not have the highest salary of all five executives. Neil Hunt, chief product officer, and Ted Sarandos, chief content officer, both make about $1 million a year with higher stock options than Hastings.
Hastings seems to be taking a bit of a hit for being the public face of all of the company's mistakes this year. I'm sure he's hoping 2012 is a better year for Netflix leading to a better year for his stock options in 2013.
