New Presstek CEO gets $6.5m deal

Jeffrey Jacobson, Presstek’s new chief executive officer, signed a four-year compensation package could be worth more than $6 million, not including 1 million stock options, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Jacobson, 47, will get a $600,000 base salary, increasing to $700,000 a year by 2110, adding up to a total of $2.6 million in salary over the four years. He also will be guaranteed a $400,000 bonus the first year, as much as another $1.6 million in discretionary target bonus in the next three years and 300,000 shares of restricted stock worth $1.8 million as a signing bonus. The company did not estimate the value of the 1 million stock options to be vested over a five-year period.

Jacobson, former chief operating officer of Eastman Kodak Company’s Graphic Communications Group, replaced Edward J. Marino, who left in the wake of disappointing financial quarter and delayed SEC filings.

The company recently announced a net loss of nearly $1 million, or 3 cents a share, for the first quarter of 2007. – BOB SANDERS