WSJ released a composite chart featuring CEOs at U.S.'s biggest 350 companies. The pay period is roughly from May 1, 2010 to April 30, 2011. The total compensation calculated includes base salary + annual incentives + stock option grants + restricted stock grants + performance award.
While most people expect CEOs to earn millions each year, and they do, some CEOs have earned $0 as their income this year. You can check out the complete list at WSJ. But here are the highlights with Top 5 and Bottom 5.
Top 5 Paid CEOs of 2010
1. Viacom - Philippe Dauman - $84 million
2. Oracle - Lawrence J. Ellison - $68 million
3. CBS - Leslie Moonves - $53 million
4. Jarden - Martin E. Franklin - $45 million
5. DIRECTV - Michael White - $32 million
Bottom 5 Paid CEOs of 2010
1. Whole Foods Market - John P. Mackey - $0
2. Citigroup - Vikram S. Pandit - $0
3. Apple - Steven P. Jobs - $0
4. Google - Eric Schmidt - $1.8
5. Amazon.com - Jeffrey Bezos - $81.8
Does this list surprise you? I'm astounded by the $0 earning from some of the top technology firms. Google? Amazon? APPLE? I guess this is not a great indicator of how well a company is doing!
That's definitely some interesting facts. However, I feel that the WSJ factoids are slightly misleading. Yes, it is possible that CEO's receive $0 for their annual salary. However, I'm pretty sure that most of these CEO's have significant interests with their respective firms. Additionally, it might be possible that, though these CEO's are being paid nothing for their annual salary, they are being paid an massive "performance-based bonus"
ReplyDeleteIn response to the previous commenter, I believe Wall Street Journal does in fact taken into account "performance-based bonus." If you check out the last column, its heading is titled "performance awards." That's why this news stunned me because these CEOs are not just earning $0 in salary, but $0 in total income.
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