However, Johnson went way too far with his changes, which was wholly unsurprising when he seems to have outright disdained the retailer’s traditional customer base with predictable results for its sales.When she was still in her previous position, Soltau spoke out against Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods, which makes sense because a lot of their goods would have been impacted by price hikes. In addition, she makes $9,735,600 as Chief Executive Officer and Director at J. C. Penney Co. Crew both filed for bankruptcy protection. In Soltau’s case, $6 million of her total salary came in the form of a signing bonus and $10 million was stock awards. View Jill Soltau’s profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. Jill Soltau was just appointed CEO of JC Penney and a member of the board. The filing offered an explanation for the largess, “The Board of Directors of J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (the ‘Company’), upon recommendation of its Human Resources and Compensation Committee (which recommendation was made after extensive consultation with the Company’s legal and compensation advisors), approved the following adjustments to the Company’s existing compensation programs to enable the Company to retain and continue to motivate its named executive officers (‘NEOs’) and other employees through the volatile and uncertain environment affecting the retail industry.”In plain English, the company claims that it needed to incentivize key executives who were part of the Titanic's crash to stay aboard and not hop onto a life raft and sail away. JCPenney's newly minted CEO Jill Soltau was paid a total of $16.7 million in 2018 after just three months on the job. As such, there can be no credible challenge to her claim that she is a true retail veteran.Over the course of her career, Soltau has performed a wide range of tasks in a wide range of roles. In a regulatory filing, it was disclosed that J.C. Penny CEO Jill Soltau received a $4.5 million bonus. Each is already paid six and seven-figure salaries and Soltau herself took home an astounding $16,749,378 in total compensation according to the salary… After all, motivated people are also well-known to be much, much harder-working people.For joining up with JC Penney, Soltau managed to get a one-time cash bonus of $6 million. Suffice to say that increasing prices tends to make the positions of retailers shakier rather than stronger, meaning that she was expected to carry these views over to JC Penney, which has voiced similar sentiments in the past.Garrett by trade is a personal finance freelance writer and journalist. With over 10 years experience he's covered businesses, CEOs, and investments. She has been so since October of 2018, but before that, she was the CEO of Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts Stores. Reinvigorating JCPenney. My articles come from an experienced recruiter’s insider perspective.Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.I write actionable interview, career and salary advice. My career advice will cover everything you need to know, including helping you decide if you really should seek out a new opportunity, whether you are leaving for the wrong reasons, proven successful interviewing techniques, negotiating a salary and accepting an offer and a real-world understanding of how the hiring process actually works. She was tasked to turn around the embattled retailer, whose shares had tumbled more than 80 percent over the previous five years—and more than 50 percent in 2018 alone—as a result of widening losses.We get it: you like to have control of your own internet experience.Below are steps you can take in order to whitelist Observer.com on your browser:Click the AdBlock button on your browser and select Click the AdBlock Plus button on your browser and select Click the AdBlock Plus button on your browser and select Simply put, department stores have been declining for some time, not least because of how online retailers have been cutting into their customer bases and thus their revenue sources.