Mr. Larsens base salary from $618,298 to $649,213, an increase of approximately $31,000, or 5%, over fiscal 2017. With this increase, Mr. Larsens base salary exceeded the upper quartile of our Peer Group from the Adjusted Compensation Assessment, which the compensation committee felt was warranted due to the value Mr. Larsen brings to the Company through his key role in the management of the Company during his long tenure, as well as our successes under his leadership in product development, licensing, and litigation matters.
Dr. Short has significant scientific and technological expertise, and the compensation committee considered his technical, scientific and management skills, his level of responsibility and expected contributions to intellectual property and product development. In light of these considerations and the other factors described above, in May 2018, the compensation committee increased Dr. Shorts base salary from $393,393 to 413,062, an increase of approximately $20,000, or 5%, over fiscal 2017. With this increase, Dr. Shorts base salary also placed him within the upper quartile of our Peer Group from the Adjusted Compensation Assessment on an annualized basis, which the compensation committee believed was appropriate given his long tenure with us and contributions to our business.
Mr. Nance has significant public company experience, and the compensation committee considered his technical and strategic skills, his level of responsibility and expected contributions to our further success. In fiscal 2018, Mr. Nances responsibilities and time commitment to the Company increased. Accordingly, in accordance with his appointment as CFO on a part-time basis, the compensation committee approved a base salary of $167,076 for Mr. Nance based on an annual salary of $417,690 adjusted to reflect Mr. Nances actual part-time status, which also placed him within the upper quartile of our Peer Group from the Adjusted Compensation Assessment on an annualized basis, which the compensation committee believed was appropriate given his long tenure with us and contributions to our business.
Annual Incentive Bonus
In fiscal 2018, the compensation committee maintained the fiscal 2018 target incentive opportunity percentages for Mr. Larsen, Dr. Short and Mr. Nance at 50% of fiscal 2018 base salary.
In December 2018, the compensation committee reviewed the Companys performance in fiscal 2018 and the contributions that Mr. Larsen, Dr. Short and Mr. Nance made to such performance. The compensation committee determined to pay each of Mr. Larsen, Dr. Short and Mr. Nance 62.5% of their respective fiscal 2018 base salary in light of the Companys overall performance for the year, including a significant verdict for the Company in its litigation against Apple and advances in product development for the Companys line of products, and their contributions in achieving this performance. The compensation committee took into account the achievement of certain licensing and litigation milestones, technical milestones, and development of the Companys patent portfolio, none of which were given any particular weight or assigned a dollar value. The resulting aggregate fiscal 2018 annual incentive bonus payments paid to Mr. Larsen, Dr. Short and Mr. Nance were $405,758, $258,164 and $104,422, respectively.
Equity Incentive Compensation
On May 31, 2018, the compensation committee approved grants of stock options and restricted stock units to Mr. Larsen, Dr. Short and Mr. Nance as well as additional stock options to Mr. Larsen and Dr. Short on February 16, 2018. As part of the compensation review, the compensation committee, with input from Compensia, also reviewed our executive officers equity incentive compensation in terms of both annual grant date fair value granted and percent of the Company granted. Based on this review, the Company determined that the Companys equity compensation grant date fair value in fiscal 2018 excluding the February 2018 Executive Grants, was below the bottom quartile of our Peer Group from the Adjusted Compensation Assessment for Mr. Larsen, Dr. Short and Mr. Nance, and also below the bottom quartile on a percent of company granted basis.
In determining fiscal 2018 stock option awards and stock awards for Mr. Larsen, Dr. Short and Mr. Nance, the compensation committee reviewed various factors, including the Companys performance, each officers performance and perceived criticality to future success, peer practices with respect to long-term incentives, and total annual equity allocations at the Company for fiscal 2018. For Mr. Nance, the compensation committee took into account his increased time commitment, duties and responsibilities to the Company.
In addition, after a review of Mr. Larsens and Dr. Shorts overall performance, the Companys performance and Mr. Larsens and Dr. Shorts equity holdings, including recently expired options that both held, the compensation committee granted Mr. Larsen an option to purchase 220,000 shares of the Companys common stock and Dr. Short