The billionaire chairman and co-founder of Dish Network made $3.1 million to run the satellite TV service in 2018.
Charlie Ergen, the billionaire chairman and former CEO of Dish Network, took home $2.35 million in total pay for 2019, according to an SEC proxy filing issued on Friday.
Ergen made $3.1 million for running the satellite TV service in 2018. His base salary was $1 million in 2019, the same as in the previous two years. Ergen also received $1.35 million in "all other compensation" last year, and no stock or option awards.
Ergen stepped down in December 2017 from his role as CEO of the company he co-founded, and was replaced by Erik Carlson, who was promoted from president and COO.
Dish has continued to experience satellite TV subscriber losses amid competition from Netflix and Amazon Prime. The media player is also making plans to move into the wireless business ahead of the 5G era.
Wall Street watchers have speculated Dish will turn to Silicon Valley for a strategic investor as it builds out a cellular network, with Amazon or another tech platform seen as possible long term investors.
Dish said it lost 194,000 net pay TV subscribers during its recent fourth quarter, compared with a loss of 334,000 in the year-ago period when carriage disputes with Univision, which has since been settled, and HBO hit results.
Carlson’s compensation for 2019 was $1.007 million, well down from total pay of $5.32 million a year earlier.
The SEC proxy statement also indicated that CFO Paul Orban earned a total pay package of $1.64 million last year, against $1.5 million in 2018.
