Howard Lorber granted $30M in Vector stock

Performance-based award locks him into CEO role through 2022

Howard Lorber (credit: Max Dworkin)
Howard Lorber (credit: Max Dworkin)

Howard Lorber will be nearly $30 million richer by 2022 – as long as he continues to lead Vector Group Ltd. successfully for the next seven years.

The parent company of Douglas Elliman, New York City’s largest residential brokerage, granted Lorber 1.2 million shares of company stock valued at $28.8 million, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.

The incentive tops an earlier agreement that would give Elliman’s chairman and CEO more than 1 million shares valued at $22 million if he continues to lead the company through 2021.

“The award is intended as a meaningful incentive for Mr. Lorber to continue to serve as CEO during the next seven years, even though he is eligible to retire now, and for him to enhance corporate value during that time,” the filing states.

The 1.2 million shares, which are subject to Vector reaching specific earnings targets, vest in seven installments, one each year through 2022. For example, Lorber is eligible to receive all 1.2 million shares in July 2022 if Vector’s adjusted EBIDTA exceeds $1.09 billion.

Last year, Vector reported adjusted EBIDTA of $227.8 million, down slightly from $236.4 million in 2013. But for the nine months ended Sept. 30, Vector’s adjusted EBIDTA rose to $188.2 million, compared to $174.3 million for the same period in 2014.

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Lorber, who earns a base salary of $3.1 million, paid Vector $120,000 – or $.10 a share – representing the nominal, par value of the stock, according to the filing. But Vector Group’s stock closed at $24.14 per share on Nov. 11, valuing his stock far higher.

A recent study by consulting from BDO USA found that real estate CEOs and CFOs are among the highest paid, earning an average of $4.5 million and $1.8 million a year, respectively.

Lorber could not immediately be reached, but this spring he told The Real Deal that retiring was “never a thought.”

“I’m going to work until I can’t do it anymore,” the 66-year-old said at the time.