The toy giant's board said in a Security and Exchange Commission filing this week that Eckert, who took the helm at the maker of Barbies and Hot Wheels on May 16, will receive an annual base salary of $1.25 million. He will also receive an annual bonus equalling his salary. That bonus may grow to 200 percent of his salary in the future provided Eckert meets certain performance goals.

Eckert, the former head of Philip Morris Co.'s Kraft Foods, also received a sign-on bonus of $2.8 million to make up for a bonus he forfeited when he resigned from Kraft.

He will also be eligible for another performance-based bonus that can range from $2 million to $8 million over a three-year period, according to the filing.

Eckert also received a $5.5 million loan when he signed on for his new job. The loan is due and payable on or before May 19, 2003, at an interest rate of 7 percent per year.

He also received options on three million Mattel shares with an exercise price of $11.25, the price of Mattel stock when he began his job.

Should he be terminated, Eckert would not receive the $50 million severance package Barad received, but would be entitled to three times his departing base salary and some bonuses as well as forgiveness of his loan.

In an interview with Reuters last week Eckert said he stood to benefit from boosting shareholder value. ``I'm well aligned with shareholders and it's going to be in my financial best interest to see shareholders benefit,'' he said. ``It's very fair to say that I'll make more money by building shareholder value than I will be by getting fired.''

[Posted 5/30/2000]