Motorola Solutions

May 18, 2021

Motorola Chairman and CEO Greg Brown received a total disclosed compensation of $23,046,559 in 2020. The company was ranked 79 and 94 on our list of 100 Overpaid CEOs in 2020 and 2021, respectively. In both of those years he received substantial NEICs. In 2020 the company failed to meet minimum, let alone operating plan target for non-GAAP Operating Earnings and Free Cash Flow. It is important to acknowledge this well-disclosed decision.

However, the Compensation Committee then “determined to award discretionary bonuses” to executives, including a bonus of $1,421,875 to Brown. Thus, even though Brown took a salary reduction from May 3 through November 1 in 2020, his discretionary bonus more than made up for any such cuts.

Additionally, it is worth noting that Gino Bonanotte decided to step down from his position as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in June 2020, though he remained with the company over a transition period until December 31, 2020. A recent blog post by John Cheffers of Watchdog Media pointed out that Motorola Solutions has had a spike in non-audit fees. It is unclear what may be behind these changes, or if they are related, but it does suggest that this is a less-than-ideal time for the CEO to receive a discretionary seven-figure bonus.