SEC Disclosure Reveals High Security Bill for Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong

Amidst regulatory tussle, an SEC disclosure revealed an expensive bill for Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s security benefits.

The exec was granted security benefits of $6.3 million last year, representing more than triple the amount his security cost Coinbase the previous year.

• According to the public document, Armstrong’s total compensation for the whole of 2022 was $7.5 million, and received a flat salary of $1 million, while the remaining can be characterized as security and legal costs. The base salary was the same for the previous two years as well.
• Moreover, a huge chunk of the Coinbase CEO’s wealth comes from his holdings and sales of the company stock.
• Armstrong received nearly $57 million in option awards as well, besides making a profit after Coinbase went public. He still holds 39 million shares in the company, which is currently worth around $2.4 billion if sold.
• The CEO’s compensation for 2022 was up by almost 134% since the previous year. His subordinates, including COO Emilie Choi, CFO Alesia Haas, CPO Surojit Chatterjee, and CLO Paul Grewal, also witnessed a considerable appreciation in their total compensation for the year.
• In fact, all the five top executives of the San Francisco-based exchange giant receive nearly $1 million in cash salary.
• The development emerges just a week after Coinbase reported a fifth consecutive quarter of losses. The company posted $79 million in losses while its total revenue plunged to $772.5 million, representing a decline of 37% from the $1.1 billion in revenue for Q1 2022.
• Coinbase’s stock also took a beating as a result of tremendous regulatory pressure in the United States.