Dive Brief:

• Ousting CEO Mike Jeffries would now cost New Albany, OH-based Abercrombie & Fitch $33.2 million, down from the $123.3 million it would have cost in 2013, according to a proxy filing sent to shareholders last week.  

• The drop is due to benefits that have been removed from Jeffries’ compensation package, including a retention bonus.

• Jeffries earned $2.2 million in the final year of his previous contract, which ended last year. By contrast, he earned $8.2 million in 2012 and a $48 million in 2011 in part due to incentives and stock-related infusions that he didn’t receive last year.

Dive Insight:

Abercrombie & Fitch has been under pressure from its investors to oust CEO Mike Jeffries, and the retailer stripped him of his chairman duties earlier this year. This diminished contract — still a pretty package — is a sign that the retailer could be easing him out to make way for bigger changes, including a possible sale.