The chief executive of the popular gaming company laid off many employees and his pay rose to 38 million dollars
Electronic Arts cut jobs across four studios while its chief executive, Andrew Wilson, received an eight-million-dollar increase in annual compensation.
Electronic Arts, or EA, dismissed employees at four game studios this year as part of what it described as a “reorganisation”.
It has now emerged that the annual compensation package of its chief executive, Andrew Wilson, rose by eight million dollars from the previous year, reaching 38 million dollars.
Wilson, the chief executive of the video-game maker, received the package disclosed in financial filings published by the company this week.
Other senior executives were also awarded increases worth millions of dollars, despite the job cuts implemented across four studios three months ago.
EA, which produced some of the best-selling video games of all time, including FIFA and The Sims, was acquired this year in a 55-billion-dollar deal by the private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and Affinity Partners.
The transaction was the most expensive leveraged buyout in history, meaning an acquisition financed largely through loans and bonds rather than the buyer’s own capital.
The filing submitted by EA to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission stated that Wilson’s compensation package for the most recent financial year included bonuses and stock options.
It also said that the ratio between his pay and the total annual compensation of EA’s median employee, which stood at 126,612 dollars, was 305 to one.
EA president Laura Miele is due to receive a compensation package of 13.7 million dollars this year.
Chief financial officer Stuart Canfield will receive 11.3 million dollars; chief legal officer Jake Schatz will receive 8.4 million dollars; and chief human resources officer Mala Singh will receive 8.3 million dollars.
As with Wilson’s package, those sums include bonuses and stock options.
The filings said the company’s success stemmed from the implementation of its artificial-intelligence strategy and the financial performance of Battlefield 6, which were described as major achievements.
Despite that success, EA dismissed employees across all four studios that make up Battlefield Studios, citing “reorganisation”.
Miele recently said that the company’s use of artificial intelligence had produced “a genuine increase in creativity” among developers who had adopted the technology.
It has now emerged that the annual compensation package of its chief executive, Andrew Wilson, rose by eight million dollars from the previous year, reaching 38 million dollars.
Wilson, the chief executive of the video-game maker, received the package disclosed in financial filings published by the company this week.
Other senior executives were also awarded increases worth millions of dollars, despite the job cuts implemented across four studios three months ago.
EA, which produced some of the best-selling video games of all time, including FIFA and The Sims, was acquired this year in a 55-billion-dollar deal by the private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and Affinity Partners.
The transaction was the most expensive leveraged buyout in history, meaning an acquisition financed largely through loans and bonds rather than the buyer’s own capital.
The filing submitted by EA to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission stated that Wilson’s compensation package for the most recent financial year included bonuses and stock options.
It also said that the ratio between his pay and the total annual compensation of EA’s median employee, which stood at 126,612 dollars, was 305 to one.
EA president Laura Miele is due to receive a compensation package of 13.7 million dollars this year.
Chief financial officer Stuart Canfield will receive 11.3 million dollars; chief legal officer Jake Schatz will receive 8.4 million dollars; and chief human resources officer Mala Singh will receive 8.3 million dollars.
As with Wilson’s package, those sums include bonuses and stock options.
The filings said the company’s success stemmed from the implementation of its artificial-intelligence strategy and the financial performance of Battlefield 6, which were described as major achievements.
Despite that success, EA dismissed employees across all four studios that make up Battlefield Studios, citing “reorganisation”.
Miele recently said that the company’s use of artificial intelligence had produced “a genuine increase in creativity” among developers who had adopted the technology.
