Imax CEO Richard Gelfond's compensation for the latest fiscal year came to $10.58 million, up sharply from $1.7 million in fiscal 2013, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
The giant-screen exhibitor, whose last fiscal year ended on Dec. 31, 2014, also revealed that Greg Foster, senior vp of Imax Corp. and CEO of Imax Entertainment, made $3.48 million in total compensation for fiscal 2014, just up from the $3.31 million he pulled in a year earlier.
Gelfond's jump of over 600 percent in overall pay, according to the company's compensation committee, was due to his "significant contributions to our many strategic and operational successes of 2014." That included launching Imax's next-generation laser-projection system, "strong margins, which led to record operating cash flow," strong new-theater signings and growing the business in China.
Imax also sold a 20 percent share in its Imax China Holding Inc. subsidiary to two Chinese investors last year. Imax CFO Joseph Sparacio earned $1.27 million in fiscal 2014, just up from a year-earlier $1.21 million, while executive vp Andrew Cripps, who is spearheading Imax's push into foreign markets, made $1.52 million last year, against a year-earlier $1.5 million.