Shaw Communications Inc. made a $25.5-million payment to former CEO Jim Shaw when he retired in the past fiscal year, regulatory filings show. The company offered no explanation for the payment in an annual shareholder proxy circular filed late Friday, which also shows Mr. Shaw’s pension entitlement ballooned in the past year. However, the company’s first-quarter earnings released in January showed Mr. Shaw received a $25-million “package” upon his retirement, which equalled three years of compensation at $8.5-million a year. The new document shows Mr. Shaw earned $26.7-million in the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, and a footnote to the compensation chart briefly says the total includes “a payment totalling $25.5-million for Jim Shaw in 2011.” Mr. Shaw retired as CEO in November, 2010, at age 53. Mr. Shaw, the son of cable company founder JR Shaw, retired two months earlier than his previously announced retirement day of Jan. 13, 2011, shortly after he was criticized for displaying unusual behaviour at an investor luncheon. Some people who attended the Vancouver event said he appeared to be inebriated. He is still on the board of Shaw and is the company’s vice-chairman
