Saks Global to Pay Execs Millions During Bankruptcy Reorganization

By Karen Dybis | April 24, 2026

The judge in Saks Global’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case approved millions of dollars in incentive pay for the retailer’s top executives, including a possible $1.5 million bonus for CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck.

Judge Alfredo R. Perez of federal bankruptcy court for the Southern District of Texas signed an April 23 order authorizing Saks’ key employee incentive plan (KEIP), which would award a total of $5.2 million to eight senior Saks executives.

In addition to van Raemdonck, those positions include Saks Global’s chief financial officer, chief technology officer, chief legal officer, and chief people officer, as well as the president of Bergdorf Goodman, one of the department stores owned by Saks Global (along with Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus). The payments are meant to keep the execs at Saks during its restructuring.

The order also provides for a non-insider compensation program (NICP) of approximately $23.6 million in incentives, which would be paid to about 385 employees. NICP covers retention bonuses across six tiers—percentages of base salaries, ranging from 15% to 100%—as well as up to $6.5 million for a potential incentive bonus plan for the second half of fiscal 2026, subject to board approval.

Informally known as “don’t quit payments,” KEIP and NICP outline how much and at what points in the company’s bankruptcy its executives and employees will receive bonuses for staying throughout the proceedings and after the exit from Chapter 11.

“The KEIP has been developed with the overall goal of incentivizing critical senior executives and motivating the preservation and enhancement of enterprise value during this period of uncertainty,” Saks’ court filing said. “The KEIP is designed to reward achievement of corporate and strategic goals and provide higher levels of pay when performance exceeds an agreed set of standards.”

In a separate bankruptcy court filing this week, Saks named the funders behind its debtor-in-possession financing, including Blackrock, Pentwater Capital Management, and Fidelity. The company had announced earlier this month that it secured $500 million in financing upon the company’s emergence from Chapter 11, through “a restructuring support agreement with an ad hoc group of its senior secured bondholders.”

(Photo courtesy of Flickr)