The company announced on Wednesday that Adam Ciongoli is leaving his perch as executive vice president and general counsel of the Campbell Soup Company to lead all legal, compliance and regulatory matters, as well as oversee government affairs, at Fox.Ciongoli was steward Fox across a murky legal landscape for the company. It faces at least three shareholder lawsuits involving alleged election falsehoods since the $787.5 million settlement in April of a defamation complaint brought by Dominion Voting Systems, as well as a second defamation suit brought by another election technology company, Smartmatic, which seeks $2.7 billion.“Adam’s extensive legal experience across various industries and government will be a tremendous asset to our company,” Fox chief executive Lachlan Murdoch in a statement.Ciongoli, who also served as general counsel of Lincoln Financial Group and Time Warner, Europe, will receive a base salary of $1,750,000, with target bonus of $2.75 million and a shareholder award of up to $3 million. To offset the value of forfeited awards from Campbell, he will also receive an additional award of restricted stock units with value of $2.35 million. His start date is Dec. 1.In a statement, Ciongoli said “FOX is uniquely positioned to build on the momentum that has been established by its industry leading brands.”In the wake of the Dominion settlement, Fox announced in August the departure of Viet Dinh, the company’s former chief legal and policy officer and general counsel. He received a $23 million severance payment and will be paid $5 million for a two-year term as a special adviser.In June, Fox News settled a lawsuit brought by former producer Abby Grossberg, who claimed that she was subjected to sexist, racist and antisemitic comments at the company. She also alleged that she was misinformed as she prepared to be deposed in the defamation suit brought by Dominion.
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