Executive compensation held up in 2008 - Sep. 24, 2009

Executive compensation held up in 2008 - Sep. 24, 2009

Overall executive compensation was little changed last year, despite generally poor stock performance, research firm says.

By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff reporter
Last Updated: September 24, 2009: 5:55 PM ET

Excerpts:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Compensation for top executives at many of the nation's largest publicly traded firms was essentially unchanged last year, even as the stock market plummeted, according to a study released Thursday.

The Corporate Library, a corporate governance research firm that focuses on executive compensation, said the median change in total compensation for chief executives was a decline of less than 0.1%.

Nevertheless, it was the first time CEO pay declined since the group began tracking such data in 2002, and came after a 4% increase in 2007.

Executive compensation has been in the spotlight recently after a number of big financial firms gave employees huge bonuses last year despite spectacular losses on Wall Street.


Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone Group (BX), was the highest paid CEO in 2008, taking home $702.4 million in salary and stock options. The report notes that the figure was affected by a large stock award Schwarzman received when Blackstone went public in 2007.

A Blackstone spokesman said Schwarzman's compensation was only $350,000 last year and called the report "totally misleading."

Schwarzman was the only CEO from a financial services company to make the top 10 highest paid executives after Wall Street executives dominated the list in previous years.

Oracle Chief Executive Lawrence Ellison, 2007's highest paid CEO, was second on the list, pocketing nearly $557 million.

The bulk of Ellison's compensation came from exercised stock options, which totaled $543 million from a whopping 36 million options. That's despite a 21% drop in Oracle's (ORCL, Fortune 500) share price over 2008.

The next seven CEOs on the list all oversee energy companies, with a median payday of $114 million.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is said to be preparing a proposal that would give the central bank the power to oversee pay practices at some of the biggest financial institutions.

Read full artice: http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/24/news/economy/corporate_library_executive_compensation/?postversion=2009092417
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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.