Target CEO accumulates $140 million in deferred comp

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Target Corp's (TGT.N) outgoing CEO has amassed more than $140 million in deferred compensation and pension benefits over his four decades at the discount retailer, a filing with U.S. securities regulators showed on Monday.

Robert Ulrich, who will reach Target's mandatory retirement age of 65 this month, is slated to retire as chief executive on May 1, but remain chairman of the board. Gregg Steinhafel, who joined Target in 1979 and is now its president, will succeed him as CEO.

In a regulatory filing, Target said Ulrich received much of his compensation in the mid-1980s and into the 1990s through a deferred compensation program designed to retain top talent and reward longevity with the company.

That helped build his $140.79 million in accumulated savings, earnings and supplemental pension benefits, it said. The total represents money held in a combination of two plans. One of the plans was frozen to new deferrals in 1996.

A spokeswoman for Target could not be reached immediately for comment.

Ulrich has worked for 41 years at the second-largest U.S. discount retailer, behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N).

He started as a merchandising trainee in its store division in 1967 and advanced through various management positions. Under his tenure as CEO since 1994, the retailer said it had nearly tripled its locations and increased sales more than four times.

By attracting shoppers with cheap but trendy designer clothes, handbags, shoes and home decor, Target's sales had been outpacing Wal-Mart's.

But its sales began to falter last year as shoppers, worried about the weakening U.S. economy, filled their carts with lower-margin food, laundry detergent and toothpaste instead of higher-margin shoes, clothes and jewelry.

The filing shows Ulrich was awarded compensation valued at $19.27 million last year, based on salary, bonus, non-equity incentive pay, other compensation as well as the stock and option grants awarded during the year. Included in that tally is a 2007 bonus of $2.2 million, down from a bonus of $3.0 million the prior year.

Steinhafel was awarded compensation valued at $9.4 million, and his bonus rose to $447,680 from $389,411.

Target said its financial results in 2007 "fell well short of our goals.

"Sales growth slowed significantly in the second half of the year, leading to unfavorable earnings performance vs. our expectations," the filing stated.

"As a result, non-equity incentive payouts for executive officers were near the low end of the payout range, and long-term performance share award payouts were negatively impacted."

(Reporting by Nicole Maestri and Martha Graybow; Editing by Braden Reddall)