Evan Clark
2 min read
In This Article:
Bracken Darrell’s pay hit $10.7 million during his first full year as president and chief executive officer of VF Corp.
That included a salary of $1.3 million, incentive pay of $2.7 million and stock and option awards valued at over $6.7 million, according to the company’s proxy statement.
More from WWD
-
Shares of Vans Parent Company VF Corp. Sink After Q4 Revenue Miss
-
Vans Owner VF Corp. Confirms 400 More Layoffs Across the Company
-
Wall Street Crashes on Trump Tariffs That Could 'Hobble' the Apparel Industry
CEOs often get a big chunk of their pay in stock and option awards, which come with strings attached and link their own financial fortunes with those of shareholders. In fiscal 2024, Darrell’s compensation tallied $13.5 million, dominated by $12.4 million in stock and options awards received as he stepped in to turn around the company.
It’s been a busy stretch for Darrell, who has changed leadership at the company’s brands, including The North Face and Vans, and sold off Supreme to EssilorLuxottica in a $1.5 billion deal that helped clean up the company’s balance sheet.
Last month, Darrell told analysts that he’s using what is an unusually mixed-up market to push the company forward.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty out there from a macro standpoint, but we’re not at all distracted by it,” the CEO said on a conference call. “Our goal is to leverage it to improve our business. Our transformation is on track and progressing well and it’s allowing us to be more agile and nimble, making better decisions more quickly. We’re making progress towards our medium-term goals, regardless of the volatility in the macro environment.”
In a letter to shareholders included with the proxy statement, chair Richard Carucci said management was “on track to transform VF,” bringing in “best-in-class talent” while paying down $1.8 billion in debt.
“We significantly improved gross margin and operating profit through lower promotions and cost reductions,” Carucci said. “During the year, we introduced actions and processes to achieve a 10 percent operating margin in fiscal 2028.”
Last year, operating margins increased to 3.2 percent, up from a negative 1.5 percent the prior year.
“We are not yet where we want to be on driving growth,” he said. “Revenue declined [4 percent to $9.5 billion] in fiscal 2025 versus prior year. This result was in line with our expectations, but it is not consistent with our historical success or our longer-term aspirations.”
Best of WWD
-
Harvey Nichols Sees Sales Dip, Losses Widen in Year Marred by Closures
-
Nike Logs $1.3 Billion Profit, But Supply Chain Issues Persist
Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
