Deferred compensation is common practice or senior executives - typically part of the "golden handcuffs" that companies employ.
But the important point is that no matter what Cheney did and how well (or poorly) Halliburton stock performed Cheney would receive exactly the same amount of money.
Cheney had purchased an insurance policy that guaranteed that no matter how well (or poorly) Halliburton did his results would be unchanged.
https://www.factcheck.org/2004/09/kerry-ad-falsely-accuses-cheney-on-halliburton/