LendingTree CEO Lebda Got $60 Million After Signing New Contract

(Bloomberg) -- LendingTree Inc. founder and Chief Executive Officer Douglas Lebda got a $59.6 million compensation package last year as its shares rose 236 percent.

Lebda got stock options for 2017 valued at $57.4 million after he signed a new employment contract that lasts four years, according to a regulatory filing Friday. The securities are linked to thresholds that range from $312.46 to $459.50, meaning none would vest if the stock price increases less than 70 percent from $183.80, the level on July 26 when the new contract took effect. LendingTree’s shares closed at $244.70 in New York. They’ve tumbled 28 percent this year.

Lebda’s new job contract entitles him to additional grants of options and restricted shares in future years.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based LendingTree provides residential mortgages and home equity loans. Lebda, 48, founded the business in 1996 and took it public in 2008.

--With assistance from Jenn Zhao

To contact the reporter on this story: Anders Melin in New York at amelin3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Dan Reichl, Josh Friedman

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.