Home Depot says new CEO could earn up to $8.9 million in 2007

<p>The Home Depot Inc.'s new chief executive could earn as much as $8.9 million in total compensation this year, the world's largest home improvement store chain said in a regulatory filing Wednesday.</p><p>Frank Blake's compensation is smaller than the roughly $25.7 million a year on average that former Chief Executive Bob Nardelli was earning excluding stock options.</p><p>Nardelli resigned earlier this month after six years at the helm of the Atlanta-based company amid a furor over his hefty pay and Home Depot's lagging stock price. He was replaced by Blake, who was Home Depot's vice chairman.</p><p>Nardelli left with a severance package worth about $210 million. Home Depot said Wednesday that Blake's compensation arrangement does not provide for payment of severance upon termination.</p><p>According to Wednesday's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Blake will earn a base salary this year of $975,000.</p><p>He also could be entitled to a management incentive plan award equal to double his base salary and a long-term incentive award equal to his base salary. Blake and the company must meet certain performance targets for Blake to get those awards.</p><p>The filing says Blake's compensation for 2007 also includes up to $5 million in equity in the company based on how Home Depot's share price performs and the amount of total shareholder return.</p><p>A Superior Court judge on Monday denied a request by a group of shareholders of Home Depot to temporarily block the company from paying Nardelli any more of his severance package.</p><p>Judge Craig Schwall denied the request for a restraining order but did rule that several current and former senior officers and directors of the company, including Nardelli, will be subject to depositions.</p><p>The request for a temporary restraining order was made in Fulton County Superior Court by the shareholders as part of a previously filed lawsuit alleging that Home Depot overpaid senior executives and backdated stock options in violation of their fiduciary duties.</p><p>From December 2000 when Nardelli joined Home Depot to the end of 2005, the last year for which figures have been released, Nardelli was granted $154.2 million in compensation from Home Depot. The total figure includes a $30.6 million restricted stock award that Nardelli was granted for 2000, though he was only with the company less than a month in that calendar year.</p><p>The total figure excludes the potential value of stock options awarded to Nardelli. The average over the six calendar years for which he earned compensation was, therefore, $25.7 million. Nardelli's compensation for 2006 has not yet been released.</p><p>Home Depot shares gained 26 cents to $40.69 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.</p>