For DraftKings Inc., 2022 was another banner year — at least it was for the online sports betting and digital sports entertainment company’s three co-founders, if not for investors.
The Boston-based company reported $1.38 billion in losses in 2022, narrower than the $1.52 billion it lost the year before, while revenue grew 73% to $2.24 billion.
The stock
DKNG,
plunged 58.5% in 2022, compared with the S&P 500’s
SPX,
19.4% decline. And in 2021, the stock tumbled 41%. So far this year, it has bounced $6.42, or 56.4%, to recover about 40% of the $16.08 it lost last year and about 18% of the $35.17 it lost over the past two years.
The company’s 2022 proxy statement, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday, included details of executive compensation.
Co-founder and Chief Executive Jason Robins’s total compensation in 2022 was $47.47 million, up 238% from the $14.03 million he received in 2021. In 2020, which was the year DraftKings went public, Robins’s total compensation was $236.83 million.
Robins’s salary was cut to $1 in 2002, from $112,500 in 2021, but the value of his stock awards, which include performance-based restricted stock units (PSUs), jumped to $43.74 million from $11.3 million.
Under “all other compensation,” the statement shows that Robins received $2.3 million in 2022, compared with $666,650 in 2021. For 2022, that category included $131,607 for Super Bowl expenses, which represented “the purchase of game-day tickets, special events, travel and accommodations for Mr. Robins’ family members during the week’s activities.”
The category also included $968,990 in security costs, $975,191 in airplane costs, $15,000 for tax planning, $202,502 for tax reimbursements received, partly in connection with benefits and prerequisites included under Super Bowl expenses, and $9,150 for a 401(k) match.
To put Robins’ total compensation in perspective, median compensation for DraftKings employees in 2022 was $111,236, pushing the CEO pay ratio to 427:1, up from 137:1 in 2021.
Mathew Kalish, co-founder and president of DraftKings North America, saw his total 2022 compensation rise 257.5% from a year ago, to $40.86 million, from $11.43 million in 2022.
Kalish’s salary was also cut to $1, from $73,558 in 2021, while his stock awards jumped to $39.98 million from $10.27 million. His “all other compensation” category didn’t include any Super Bowl expenses, security costs or airplane costs.
And Paul Liberman, the third co-founder and the company’s president of global technology and products, received 2022 total compensation of $40.92 million, up 258% from $11.43 million in 2021.
Liberman also took a salary cut to $1, from $73,558, but his stock awards rose to $39.98 million from $10.72 million.
For Liberman, the “all other compensation” category grew to $155,751 from $23,700 in 2021. It didn’t include any Super Bowl expenses but did include $39,759 for tax reimbursement, $34,342 for airplane costs and $57,500 for reimbursements for filing fees and preparation expenses in connection with filings made under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act of 1976.
The total compensation for the three co-founders was $129.25 million, up 250% from $36.89 million the year before.
Also listed in DraftKings’ 2022 summary compensation table, Chief Legal Officer Stanton Dodge’s total compensation rose to $14.58 million from $6.44 million in 2021, while Chief Financial Officer Jason Park’s increased to $14.87 million from $6.43 million the previous year.
