Cisco CEO Robbins' New Salary Puts Him Ahead Of Chambers

New Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins is now getting paid a higher salary than his predecessor, John Chambers.

The San Jose, Calif.-based networking giant increased Robbins' annual base salary to $1.15 million effective July 26 when he took over the reins as CEO, according to an 8-K filing from Cisco to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission dated July 29.

Cisco's board of directors also approved a reduction of Chambers' base salary to $1 million as he moves into his new role as executive chairman of the board.

[Related: Chambers' New Security-Focused Role At Cisco Seen As 'Critical' To Success]

Chambers previously had a base salary of $1.1 million, according to a Definitive Proxy Statement that Cisco filed with the SEC in September 2014. The 2014 proxy statement listed top executive salaries, including those of former President and Chief Operating Officer Gary Moore ($825,000), followed by former CFO Frank Calderoni and former President, Development and Sales Robert Lloyd ($800,000) -- all of whom are no longer with the company. Robbins' salary at the time was not listed in the filing.

Cisco also approved an increase of Robbins' target award bonus under the company's Executive Incentive Plan for fiscal year 2016 to 225 percent of his annual salary.

"It's about time Chuck made the big bucks," said a top executive solution provider who declined to be identified. "He's been helping us out with our sales for years. … It's a little interesting he's making $50,000 more than Chambers did as CEO at least salary-wise, but I'm sure John doesn't care."

Robbins was unanimously selected by the board in May to succeed Chambers after he led the networking giant for more than 20 years. On his first day as CEO on Monday, Robbins hired Hewlett-Packard's former top cloud executive, Zorawar Biri Singh, as Cisco's new senior vice president and chief technology officer, along with former Salesforce.com executive Kevin Brandy as the new chief digital officer.

"It's Chuck's time now -- everyone is really excited to see how he leads," said the executive. "The whole channel is rooting for him. It's exciting times at Cisco."

PUBLISHED JULY 29, 2015