Tax law leads to higher salaries for Netflix execs

Executives at Netflix will received substantially higher salaries in 2018 as result of the passage of the GOP tax plan, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Among those receiving raises include Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, who will earn a $12 million salary next year, a significant jump from the $1 million he earned during the past three years.

{mosads}However, Sarandos and other executives had been earning large performance-based bonuses for their work because of the heavy taxes levied on salaries of more than $1 million, according to the newspaper.

For example, Sarandos earned a salary of $1 million in 2017 but could earn up to $9 million in bonuses this year.

“With the recent passage of federal tax reform, the performance bonus plan will no longer eliminate such surcharges,” Netflix said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. “As such, the compensation committee of the board of directors has determined that all cash compensation for 2018 will be paid as salary.”

Other Netflix executives’ salaries include chief counsel David Hyman at $2.5 million and Chief Product Officer Greg Peters with $6 million.

Chief executive Reed Hastings will earn $700,000, alongside $28.7 million in annual stock options.

Several companies announced employee bonuses after President Trump signed the GOP tax plan into law, including Sinclair Broadcast Group and Comcast.

Republicans had touted the tax bill as designed to help working Americans.