Take-Two Upgrades Chairman's Salary

Banc of America Securities analyst Gary Cooper made an appeal for Brant's departure a month ago, calling him the "one constant through Take-Two's years of accounting irregularities, SEC investigations and dubious operating decisions."

At the same time, Brant has exercised a significant number of options in 2003, worth a gross $10.4 million, Cooper calculated. Cooper has a neutral rating on Take-Two and his firm has done banking business with the company.

Brant, 32, served as the company's CEO from 1998 until February 2001 and has been chairman since 1993. In 2002, he received a $2 million bonus on top of a $641,058 salary, which the company erroneously reported Monday was only $41,058. In 2001, Brant's compensation was a comparatively humble $790,000 bonus, on top of a base salary of $575,000 and 479,560 stock options, according to the filing Tuesday. Monday's filing mistakenly showed his 2001 base salary at $75,000.

The other big wage-earner at Take-Two in 2003 was Kelly Sumner, who resigned as CEO in January 2003. Sumner received a bonus of $1.9 million on top of a base salary of $607,019 and 100,000 options. Sumner continues to serve in a "non-executive capacity," according to the filing.

Shares of Take-Two recently edged up 14 cents, or 0.4%, to $33.01. An announcement on the launch date of the latest Grand Theft Auto game pushed the stock up $1.57, or 5%, to close Monday at $32.87.

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