Electronic Arts 2010 Annual Report Download - page 36

Compensation Consultants
The Committee has the authority to engage the services of outside advisors. During fiscal 2010, the Committee
engaged Compensia, Inc., a national compensation consulting firm, to assist with the Committee’s analysis and
review of the compensation of our executive officers and other aspects of our total compensation strategy.
Compensia also advised the Committee with respect to the operation of the Electronic Arts Executive Bonus Plan
(the “Executive Bonus Plan”) for fiscal 2010, including recommendations regarding participation, target bonuses
and performance criteria.
Compensia attends all Committee meetings, works directly with the Committee Chair and Committee members,
and sends all invoices, including descriptions of services rendered, to the Committee Chair for review and
payment approval. Compensia performed no work at the request of our management team during fiscal 2010.
From time to time, our management separately engages outside advisors in connection with the Company’s
compensation practices. In fiscal 2010, we retained Frederic W. Cook & Co., a national compensation consulting
firm to assist management and the Committee with a review of compensation levels for members of the Board.
Frederic W. Cook & Co. only performed director compensation-related services for the Company in fiscal 2010.
Role of Management
In formulating executive compensation recommendations for the Committee and the Board, our Executive Vice
President of Human Resources and Facilities, Ms. Gabrielle Toledano, is responsible for conducting an annual
analysis of market trends, providing documentation of individual executive officer performance, and creating
initial recommendations of base salary adjustments, potential annual cash bonus payments, and potential equity
awards for our executive officers. To assist in the development of these initial recommendations, our Human
Resources Department participates in several comprehensive executive compensation surveys, including the
Radford High Technology Executive and International Compensation Surveys to access information for our peer
group companies (as defined below) and the Croner Entertainment & Educational Software Compensation
Survey. Mr. Riccitiello reviews and provides input on these recommendations prior to and during review by the
Committee. Mr. Riccitiello, assisted by Ms. Toledano, annually performs an individual performance review of
each executive officer, which is then provided to the Committee for its reference and use.
Ms. Toledano also oversees the preparation of the Committee’s meeting materials, works with the Committee
Chair to set the meeting agenda, and attends all Committee meetings. In addition, Mr. Riccitiello regularly
attends Committee meetings (except when his own compensation is being discussed).
Competitive Positioning
For fiscal 2010, at the direction of the Committee, Compensia conducted a comprehensive analysis of our
executive compensation program. This analysis was developed using data from the Radford High Technology
Executive and International Compensation Surveys, the Croner Entertainment & Educational Software
Compensation Survey, and publicly available compensation information from a group of peer companies selected
by our management with input from the Committee and Compensia. For fiscal 2010, this group consisted of
(a) companies of comparable size, geographic markets, financial performance, and expected growth rates and
(b) companies that compete with us for executive talent in the media, entertainment and technology industries.
During fiscal 2010, this group of peer companies (the “Peer Group”) consisted of:
• Activision Blizzard • Lions Gate Entertainment
• Adobe Systems • Mattel
• Discovery Communications • Symantec
• eBay • Take-Two Interactive Software
• Expedia • THQ
• Hasbro • Warner Music Group
• IAC / Interactive • Yahoo!
• Intuit
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