Rockwell Chairman Gets $1.25-Million Bonus

Donald R. Beall, chairman of Costa Mesa-based Rockwell International Corp., received a special bonus of $1.25 million in recognition of his “pivotal role” in transforming the company, Rockwell said in a regulatory filing. The special payment was part of a $4.88-million compensation package that Beall received for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 1997, Rockwell said in a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 1997 payments represent a 39% increase from the $3.51 million Beall got in 1996. Beall, 59, retired as chief executive on Sept. 30, after serving as chairman and CEO since February 1988. Beall plans to step down as chairman after the company’s coming annual meeting, scheduled for Feb. 4. The board compensation committee awarded Beall the $1.25-million bonus in recognition of his pivotal role in guiding the transformation of Rockwell “from a broadly diversified concern into an enterprise sharply focused on commercial electronics markets,” the filing said. Steps taken under Beall included the $3.2-billion sale of Rockwell’s aerospace and defense business to Boeing Co. in 1996. In 1997, the company completed the spinoff of its automotive component systems business into a separately traded public company named Meritor Automotive Inc. Beall received $1 million in salary for his efforts last year. His annual cash bonus was $2.25 million in fiscal 1997.