Interim EA executive gets $1.03 million salary

Electronic Arts will pay executive chairman Larry Probst an annual salary of $1.03 million while the Battlefield and FIFA publisher seeks a replacement for John Riccitiello, who resigned as CEO last month.

Federal documents also show that the EA Board of Directors may award Probst a one-time discretionary bonus at the end of his term, with the amount to be determined by the Board.

In addition to his new role at EA of executive chairman, Probst is a member of the Board. He abstained from the Compensation Committee's salary decision and will not receive any further cash retainer fees for his position on the Board while he is also executive chairman.

Probst has been in a leadership position at EA since 1991 and was CEO from 1991 to 2007. He is also the current executive chairman of the United States Olympic Committee and serves on the International Olympic Committee's International Relations Commission. Past positions include national sales manager at Activision and national accounts manager at Clorox.

Six-year EA CEO Riccitiello resigned from the company on March 18, citing a failure to meet financial milestones as his reason to move on. His separation agreement with EA includes 24 months of continued salary and other options worth an estimated $4.7 million.

Looking ahead, the EA Board will consider internal and external candidates to replace Riccitiello with the help of a "leading executive search firm."

According to one analyst, leading internal candidates for the position include current chief operating officer Peter Moore and EA Labels president Frank Gibeau. EA has set no timetable for when it plans to name a new top executive.