Oil-Dri CEO Got $449,400 In Charity Gifts He Directed, Inside $2.4 Million Pay Package
Perks of $489,294 lifted Daniel Jaffee's total to $2,398,755, about 29 times the median employee, while a director's law firm billed $909,593.
Oil-Dri CEO Daniel S. Jaffee received $489,294 in perquisites in fiscal 2026, and $449,400 of that was charitable donations the company made at his direction, according to the company's proxy statement filed Tuesday. His total pay was $2,398,755, about 29 times the $82,866 earned by the median employee.
Perks and a bonus at target
Oil-Dri, which mines clay near its plants and sells sorbent products including Cat's Pride and Jonny Cat cat litter, also counted $34,128 of private plane use and auto allowances among Jaffee's perks. His other pay was a $931,944 salary and $838,750 in cash incentives, plus $118,206 in dividends on unvested restricted stock and a $20,561 401(k) match.
The bonus paid at 100% of target. Net income came in at $56,968,547 against a $57,236,000 target, and the Compensation Committee this year switched the yardstick from adjusted pre-tax, pre-bonus income to net income.
Jaffee asked not to be eligible for the deferred bonus other executives receive. The committee instead gave him a cash award at 100% of target, intended to be comparable to what he would have received.
Family jobs and a director's law firm
The proxy discloses that Oil-Dri paid Vedder Price, the law firm Compensation Committee member Michael A. Nemeroff leads as president and CEO, $909,593 in fees and cost reimbursements during fiscal 2026.
Jaffee's sister, Karen Jaffee Cofsky, works part-time as vice president of benefits on a $144,200 salary, with a $36,050 cash incentive and a $14,420 deferred bonus. Her husband, Thomas F. Cofsky, works part-time as vice president of global infrastructure on $292,081, with a $102,229 cash incentive and a $58,416 deferred bonus.
The board is shrinking from nine seats to eight because director Amy L. Ryan is not standing for re-election.
Equity swings drive the total
Jaffee's pay moves with stock grants: $10,603,516 in fiscal 2024, when he received $7,973,750 in restricted stock, then $2,295,850 in fiscal 2025. No stock was granted in fiscal 2026.
When 82,000 restricted Class B shares vested this year, he realized $4,843,740, a sum outside the pay table's total. He still holds 186,000 unvested restricted Class B shares, worth $18,453,060 at the $99.21 close on July 31, 2026, vesting in three tranches of 62,000 shares starting October 19, 2026.
Shareholders last approved executive pay in a vote the proxy cites, with 97.7% support for fiscal 2023.
Oil-Dri reports first-quarter fiscal 2027 results after the close on Monday, December 7, and holds its virtual annual meeting at 9:30 a.m. Central on Tuesday, December 8.
Sources
- Oil-Dri — DEF 14A (2026-10-27) — SEC EDGAR
- Oil-Dri to Host First Quarter 2027 Earnings Discussion and — globenewswire.com
