$3,335,000 to Mr. Aaron, a reduction of 55% compared to the prior year. In addition to their tenure with us and personal relationships in the industry, these annual cash incentives were intended to recognize the personal contribution these two executives made to stabilizing our business during the pandemic, refinancing our debt, keeping our employees safe, pivoting our products to align with consumer demand and managing our inventory by re-negotiating commitments with our suppliers and our retail partners and accelerating our digital business. In addition, Mr. Goldfarb’s efforts were critical to the restructuring of our retail business which we anticipate will position our retail segment for future profitability.
ANNUAL CASH INCENTIVES FOR OUR OTHER NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
The annual cash incentives awarded to Wayne Miller, Jeffrey Goldfarb and Neal Nackman for fiscal 2021 depended on a review of individual performance under the extraordinary conditions presented by the pandemic, as well as recommendations from our Chief Executive Officer. The Committee reviewed the areas of responsibility for each of these executives and the challenges that arose and responses implemented by each executive. The Committee noted that our results of operations were quite good considering the effects of the pandemic over the past year. The Committee considered the teamwork of these executives in managing our business in a crisis environment and their efforts in supporting each other and the rest of our executive team. The Committee also noted the efforts of these executives in connection with restructuring our retail operations, refinancing our debt, implementing contingency planning and providing for the safety of our employees. The Committee also took into account the reduction in net sales, pre-tax income and net income for fiscal 2021 compared to the prior year, which was a record year for us.
After consideration of the factors discussed above, the Committee awarded annual cash incentive payments for fiscal 2021 of (i) $1,600,000 to Mr. Miller, a reduction of 41% compared to the prior year, (ii) $1,000,000 to Mr. Goldfarb, a reduction of 11% compared to the prior year, and (iii) $450,000 to Mr. Nackman, a reduction of 29% compared to the prior year.
LONG-TERM INCENTIVES
We grant long-term incentive awards to our NEOs to align their interests with those of our stockholders by rewarding our executives for achieving long-term performance objectives and enhancing stockholder value. Equity grants subject to multi-year vesting also helps us retain executives in the highly competitive apparel industry.
After assessing investor feedback, the Compensation Committee undertook a comprehensive redesign of our long-term incentive program and, in fiscal 2020, awarded performance share units (“PSUs”) contingent on 3-year cumulative adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and 3-year average return on invested capital (ROIC). These awards would vest in June 2022 with 75% of each award contingent on satisfying the adjusted EBIT performance condition and 25% of each award contingent on satisfying the average ROIC performance condition, in each case measured over the fiscal 2020, 2021 and 2022 years.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had a material adverse effect on our business and financial results in fiscal 2021. The effects of the pandemic have already negatively impacted the compensation of our NEOs through significant reductions in salary and annual cash incentive awards for fiscal 2021. Furthermore, the performance criteria contained in the fiscal 2020 PSU grants made in 2019 will likely not be achieved, resulting in forfeiture of performance shares after completion of the 3-year measurement period. In addition, the performance based awards granted in December 2015 for fiscal 2016 expired in December 2020 without vesting, resulting in the forfeiture of those awards as well. These factors caused concern for the Committee about retention of the senior management team.
In determining the equity incentive awards for fiscal 2021, the Committee noted our record-breaking results in fiscal 2020 and that awards made soon after the completion of a fiscal year generally take into account our performance for the past fiscal year, as well as our inability to determine meaningful performance criteria as a result of the pandemic. To address retention of management and senior executives and provide more certainty during a period of extreme market volatility, in April 2020, our Compensation Committee granted to our NEOs time-based RSUs with a 3-year cliff vesting period. We believe that the significant retention benefit resulting from a 3-year cliff vesting period is extremely important to the long-term interests of our company and overrides any concern that might be caused by the absence of performance criteria in these grants. We chose a 3-year period because it is competitive in our industry and we thought it was sufficient to retain management during the pandemic and the recovery that we expect to follow.