Reverend Al Sharpton was paid more than $1 million by his own charity, according to the latest tax files from the National Action Network, several news outlets have reported.
The New York Post reported that the reverend received, in 2018, $324,000 salary along with a bonus of $159,596 and another $563,352 in compensation, all paid from the Harlem-based nonprofit organization in which Sharpton is the CEO of.
“Fifteen years, you are talking about since 2004 [I have not been paid]…for anyone else it would be laughable,” Sharpton said, according to Daily Mail.
This payment was compensation to make up for times when he didn’t receive full pay, as well as bonuses, during the period from 2004 to 2007, according to the news outlet. The National Action Network had, as reported by the New York Post, hired a firm to help calculate the amount owed to Sharpton, and it was determined through the firm that Sharpton was, in the time he was not paid in full, owed nearly $1.252 million.
With the $1.04 million payment, both Sharpton and the National Action Network have agreed that Sharpton has been fully compensated, the New York Post reported.
“[Sharpton] has now been fully compensated for all the years he was underpaid and received no bonus,” the National Action Network stated, according to the New York Post.
The Daily Mail reported that despite saying that he was underpaid and not given a bonus, Sharpton had managed to take home a $250,000 salary in addition to a $437,555 bonus back in 2016, while in 2014 he managed to take home a $348,244 salary, along with a $64,400 bonus.
Sharpton’s 2018’s salary was almost a 32 percent increase from the amount he received in 2017, the New York Post reported.
Sharpton said he deserved the amount he was given in 2018, according to the New York Post.
“It’s a six-day-a-week job and several hours a day and when [the compensation firm] compared it to other companies, other non-profits, that’s the salary that they would get,” Sharpton said, defending the salary and the raise, according to the New York Post.
Sharpton’s income was revealed after he sold the rights to his life story to his charity for $531,000, less than a year ago.
According to New York Post, the documentary of Sharpton’s life will feature his 65th birthday gala that was held at the New York Public Library, which was hosted by Samuel L. Jackson and Spike Lee.
