Och-Ziff Renegotiates Pay for Star Trader Levin for Co-CIO Role
Och-Ziff Renegotiates Pay for Star Trader Levin for Co-CIO Role
(Bloomberg) -- Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC co-Chief Investment Officer Jimmy Levin, who was passed over for the hedge fund’s top job in December, will get restricted stock worth $35.6 million as of Friday’s close, and a guaranteed annual bonus of $7.5 million under his new job contract.
Levin’s employment agreement entitles him to receive 1.1 percent to 1.5 percent of the gross profit of some of the firm’s funds, subject to a $7.5 million minimum -- most of which will be paid in cash, according to a regulatory filing Friday. In addition to receiving restricted stock, he’ll give up large chunks of previously awarded equity units.
Och-Ziff Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas said last week that Levin’s new contract would link his compensation more closely to fund performance to reflect his responsibilities as co-CIO. Returns at the hedge fund firm strengthened last year, with the flagship OZ Master Fund gaining 10.4 percent -- the most since 2013 -- and the OZ Credit Opportunities Fund jumping 11 percent.
Levin, 34, was promoted to co-CIO in February last year, becoming heir apparent of founder and Chief Executive Officer Dan Och. As part of the promotion, he got 39 million shares tied to stock return, outlining an effort by the firm to prop up its share price, which has plunged more than 92 percent since its 2007 initial public offering. The award would have been worth almost $200 million if all goals were met.
The stock will be fully vested around the end of 2023.
Och, who previously had agreed to step down as CEO around the end of 2017, told investors in December that Levin wouldn’t succeed him. In January, the firm said Robert Shafir, the former chairman of the Americas at Credit Suisse Group AG, would take the CEO job Feb. 5 and receive a $60 million pay package. Part of the award consists of performance share units linked to the stock price.
--With assistance from Jenn Zhao
To contact the reporters on this story: Anders Melin in New York at amelin3@bloomberg.net, Katia Porzecanski in New York at kporzecansk1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alicia Ritcey at aritcey@bloomberg.net, Josh Friedman, Dan Reichl
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