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Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Table in Fiscal 2006

The table below provides information on the non-qualified deferred compensation of the named executives in 2006, including:

  • Deferral of bonus. Executive-band and above employees, including the named executives, are able to defer all or a portion of their bonus payments in either (1) GE stock (GE Stock Units); (2) an index based on the S&P 500 (the S&P 500 Index Units) or (3) cash units. The participants may change their election among these options four times a year. If a participant elects either to defer bonus payments in GE Stock Units or the S&P 500 Index Units, the company credits a number of such units to the participant’s Deferred Incentive Compensation account based on the respective average price of GE stock and the S&P 500 Index for the 20 trading days preceding the date the Board approves the company’s total bonus allotment.

    Deferred cash units earn interest income on the daily outstanding balance in the account based on the prior calendar month’s average yield for U.S. Treasury Notes and Bonds issued with maturities of 10 and 20 years. The interest income does not constitute an “above-market interest rate” as defined by the SEC, and is credited to the participant’s account monthly. Deferred GE Stock Units and S&P 500 Index Units earn dividend income on such units held as of the start of trading on the NYSE ex-dividend date equal to (1) for GE Stock Units, the quarterly dividend declared by the GE Board, or (2) for S&P 500 Index Units, the quarterly dividend as declared by Standard & Poor’s for the S&P 500 Index for the preceding calendar quarter. Contributions made prior to 2005 permit participants to receive their deferred compensation balance upon termination of employment either through a lump sum payment or in annual installments over 10 to 20 years. Contributions made in or after 2005 permit either a lump sum payment or 10, 15 or 20 annual installments.

    In addition, the company awards a special discretionary credit to the executive’s account, as a result of the limitations imposed by U.S. income tax regulations on the amount of compensation that an employee may save under the company’s 401(K) savings plan, and consequently the amount of matching contributions the company can make under that plan. The amount of the discretionary credit is calculated by multiplying 3.5% to an amount determined from the executive’s non-deferred base salary, plus the lesser of half the bonus amount or non-deferred bonus amount, and subtracting the maximum compensation permitted to be saved under the 401(k) savings plan, which was $220,000 in 2006. Contributions made after 2004 are paid in ten annual installments following terminations of employment.
  • Deferral of salary. Executive-band and above employees are able to defer their salary payments under salary deferral plans. These salary deferral plans pay accrued interest, including an above-market interest rate as defined by the SEC, ranging from 8.5% to 14%, compounded annually. Under the 2006 employee deferral salary plan, participants may defer between 10% and 50% of their current salary as of the end of the prior year in which the plan begins. Interest income will not be earned, or vest, unless the executive remains with the company for a period of five years from election. Early termination before the vesting date will result in an immediate payout of the deferred salary amount with no interest income paid, with exceptions for retirement, death, disability, layoff, plant closing and dispositions. With respect to distributions, participants may only elect to receive either a lump sum payment or 10 to 20 annual installments.

    In addition, the company credits each participant’s deferred salary account with an amount equal to 3.5% of the deferred salary amount, which is based on the maximum matching contribution rate the company provides to employees in connection with the company’s 401(k) savings plan. As described in the CD&A, certain executives no longer participate in the salary deferral plans.
  • Deferral of long-term performance awards. The long-term performance awards for the 1994 to 1996 performance period, which was paid out in 1997, permitted the participating executives to defer some or all of portion of the payout they received in GE Stock Units. The terms of this deferral with respect to credits earned and dividend income are similar to the bonus deferral described above. Of the named executives, only Messrs. Neal and Wright participated in this deferral.

The named executives cannot withdraw any amounts from their deferred compensation balances until they either leave or retire from the company. No withdrawals or distributions were made in 2006.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Name of Executive Type of Deferred Compensation Plan   Executive Contributions in Last Fiscal Year1   Registrant Contributions in Last Fiscal Year2   Aggregate Earnings in Last Fiscal Year3   Aggregate Balance at
Last Fiscal Year End4
Immelt   Deferred bonus plans    
$ 0
   
$ 198,300
   
$ 244,530
   
$ 2,703,076
 
    Deferred salary plans     0     0     216,429     2,025,492  
Sherin   Deferred bonus plans    
$ 0
   
$ 63,200
   
$ 39,670
   
$ 458,933
 
    Deferred salary plans     550,000     19,250     135,523     1,681,052  
Neal   Deferred bonus plans    
$ 0
   
$ 79,300
   
$ 192,872
   
$ 1,969,292
 
    Deferred salary plans     0     0     192,891     1,816,274  
    Deferred LTPA     0     0     265,718     3,108,776  
Rice   Deferred bonus plans    
$ 1,087,500
   
$ 67,900
   
$ 730,340
   
$ 7,492,137
 
    Deferred salary plans     700,000     24,500     228,692     2,711,487  
Wright   Deferred bonus plans    
$ 0
   
$ 179,900
   
$ 1,867,091
   
$ 21,757,392
 
    Deferred salary plans     0     0     1,536,020     14,244,109  
    Deferred LTPA     0     0     329,916     3,859,865  
1 Reflects participation by Messrs. Sherin and Rice in the 2006 deferred salary plan and Mr. Rice’s deferral of a portion of his bonus received in February 2006 for prior year performance.
2 Reflects company contributions credited to the account of the named executives in 2006, including (a) the 3.5% special discretionary credit to the deferred bonus account as described above and (b) the one-time 3.5% credit on the 2006 salary deferrals for Messrs. Sherin and Rice. See the All Other Compensation Table on page 22 for the amount of company contributions related to 2006 performance, which may be credited in 2007. The amount of company contributions for Mr. Immelt shown in the All Other Compensation Table is much lower due to the absence of a cash bonus for 2005.
3 Reflects earnings on each type of deferred compensation listed above. The earnings on deferred bonus payments and deferred long-term performance awards do not include any company or executive contributions, and are calculated based on the (a) total number of deferred units in the account divided by the GE stock or S&P 500 index price as of December 31, 2006, less the (b) total number of deferred units in the account divided by the GE stock or S&P 500 index price as of December 31, 2005. The earnings on the employee deferred salary plans are calculated based on the total amount of interest payments made. See the Summary Compensation Table on page 21 for the above-market portion of those interest payments in 2006.
4 Includes interest income for Mr. Sherin ($85,175) and Mr. Rice ($203,562) credited to the account under the 2003 and 2006 deferred salary plans for which the executives have not yet met the vesting requirements. If either of the executives leaves the company prior to vesting, the interest income credited will not be paid.

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