Mondelez CEO gets stock grant worth $10 million

Mondelez International Inc. gave Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld a special stock award this week valued at $10 million in part for “delivering top-tier performance” as chief executive.

Deerfield, Ill-based Mondelez, the global snack business of the former Kraft Foods Inc., designed the award “to both recognize Ms. Rosenfeld's past accomplishments and further incentivize” her, the company said in a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Most of the grant — 80 percent — is made up of restricted stock units contingent on the company reaching certain stock price thresholds but will not vest for three years, according to the filing. The remainder of the award is stock that fully vests after three years.

The number of shares and units in the award was based on a stock price of $25.94 a share, which Mondelez said was the average of the high and low price Wednesday, the day of the grant. The stock closed Thursday at $26.07.

Ms. Rosenfeld's total compensation last year was $21.9 million, according to a proxy statement.

Kraft, Mondelez begin trading as 2 companies

NEW YORK (AP) — Kraft Foods Group and Mondelez International are now trading as two separate public companies.

Kraft Foods Inc. decided to spin off its global snack business in March. That company, called Mondelez International Inc., will be home to global brands including Oreo, Cadbury and Nabisco and trade under the ticker "MDLZ."

Mondelez's stock gained 2 cents to $27.84 in Tuesday morning trading.

The North American grocery business will continue to carry the name Kraft and include Velveeta, Miracle Whip and Oscar Mayer. Its ticker will change to "KRFT" from "KFT"

Shares of Kraft Foods Group, based in Northfield, Ill., added 61 cents to $44.71.

Scott Mushkin of Jefferies started coverage of Kraft Foods Group Inc. with a "Buy" rating and $50 price target. The analyst said while the company only runs in the slower growing North American market, it is a shareholder-friendly operator with strong brands.

"Management's strong track record in the consumer products space gives us confidence that it can execute on the ambitious plans for Kraft," Mushkin wrote in a client note.

Citi Investment Research's David Driscoll gave Kraft Foods Group a "Neutral" rating and $48 price target. The analyst feels that Kraft can increase its sales by 2 percent to 3 percent and boost earnings per share by 7 percent to 9 percent over the long term by improving margins and reinvesting savings into new products and marketing.

Kraft CEO's pay drops sharply to $13.5 million in 2010

(AP) — Kraft Foods Inc.'s CEO, Irene Rosenfeld, saw the value of her pay package shrink nearly 40 percent in 2010 as her performance fell short of some of the company's goals.

The food maker, based in Northfield, Ill., gave Rosenfeld a pay package worth nearly $13.5 million in 2010, compared with $22.1 million a year earlier, according to an Associated Press analysis.

Rosenfeld's salary rose 2 percent to $1.5 million for the year, according to regulatory document filed Thursday. The value of her stock awards fell 6 percent to nearly $7.4 million and the value of options awards rose 13 percent to nearly $2.1 million.

Rosenfeld's performance-based bonus fell 80 percent to $2.1 million. That's partly because she didn't meet all the company's goals. But the comparison also suffers because the company shifted part of its long-term incentive pay from cash to options, so her 2009 package included a $6.6 million cash payout.

She also received perks, such as the travel in the corporate aircraft, valued at $351,882 — 3 percent less than in the prior year.

Kraft said in the filing that Rosenfeld met or exceeded many of her performance goals for the year, such as increasing revenue, improving shareholder value and delivering savings from its acquisition of Cadbury PLC ahead of schedule.

Kraft, under Rosenfeld's leadership, acquired Cadbury a year ago for $19.5 billion. The move made the nation's largest food maker into the world's largest confectioner as well.

While the food maker said Rosenfeld helped deliver "solid" results for the year, she did not meet all of the financial expectations that the company had laid out.

Kraft's net income jumped roughly 36 percent to $4.11 billion in 2010 on revenue of $49.21 billion.

The Associated Press formula calculates an executive's total compensation during the last fiscal year by adding salary, bonuses, perks, above-market interest the company pays on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock and stock options awarded during the year. The AP formula does not count changes in the present value of pension benefits. That makes the AP total slightly different in most cases from the total reported by companies to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The value that a company assigned to an executive's stock and option awards for 2010 was the present value of what the company expected the awards to be worth to the executive over time. Companies use one of several formulas to calculate that value. However, the number is just an estimate, and what an executive ultimately receives will depend on the performance of the company's stock in the years after the awards are granted. Most stock compensation programs require an executive to wait a specified amount of time to receive shares or exercise options.

Kraft hires 'golden voice' homeless man for ad work

(Crain's) — Kraft Foods Inc. has turned to Internet sensation Ted Williams to be the voice of four new mac and cheese television ads, adding to the organizations that are helping to lift the Ohio man out of homelessness.

"His amazing voice is perfectly suited for our campaign," a Kraft spokeswoman said.

Mr. Williams, 53, recently rocketed to fame after a Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch newspaper profile and video showcasing his voiceover skills became an Internet sensation. Within days, the homeless man, whose radio career disappeared amid personal problems including drug and alcohol addiction, was fielding various job offers.

"There's no way in the world that I could have ever imagined that I would be — I mean, just (to) have all of this just all of a sudden come into this portion of my life," he said during a Thursday appearance on NBC's "Today" show.

While in New York on Thursday morning — between being reunited with his 90-year-old mother and appearing on morning television shows — he went into a studio and did voiceover work for Kraft, the spokeswoman said.

The timing was perfect, the Northfield-based food company was in the process of putting the spots together, she added.

"We were in the unique position to help Ted use his voice to gain employment and help our campaign," she said. "We're thrilled to help Ted on his journey."

The first advertisement is scheduled to run Sunday night during ESPN's broadcast of the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. The football game has Boston College playing Nevada.

The Kraft spokeswoman said she is unaware of the air dates for the remaining three commercials and does not know if the company will hire Mr. Williams again for more work.

It's not Mr. Williams' only new gig these days. He says the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers offered him a job doing announcing work under a two-year contract that includes living expenses.

Mr. Williams until recently was homeless, living in shelters and occasionally with family and friends over the past few years. His past includes a lengthy list of arrests, prison time for theft and forgery and numerous misdemeanors. After a May 14 arrest he pleaded guilty to a first-degree misdemeanor theft charge. In court records, his address is listed as "Streets of Columbus."

Mr. Williams acknowledged his record during the "Today" show appearance and explained that he turned to crime so he could afford his drug habits.

Mr. Williams said his life began spiraling downward in 1996 when he began drinking alcohol "pretty bad." He used marijuana and cocaine and lost interest in his radio career. He eventually wound up on the streets, despite the best efforts of his children, seven daughters and two sons who all live in the Columbus area.