Top Paid CEOs

By SCOTT DECARLO

After a 38% collective pay raise in 2006, chief executives of the 500 biggest companies in the U.S. (as measured by a composite ranking of sales, profits, assets and market value) took a pay cut of 15% last year. The last time the big bosses took a pay hit was in 2002. In total, these 500 executives earned $6.4 billion in 2007, an average of $12.8 million apiece.


Frederic M.Poses, CEO Trane

By The Numbers: America's Top Paid CEOs

The top earner of 2007 was Oracle chief Larry J. Ellison. Ellison drew just a $1 million salary, but realized $182 million from the exercise of vested stock options last year.

The next four top-paid chief executives also earned most of their pay from exercised stock options: Frederic M. Poses of Trane ($127 million total pay); Aubrey K. McClendon of Chesapeake Energy ($117 million); Angelo R. Mozilo of Countrywide Financial ($103 million); and Howard D. Schultz of Starbucks ($99 million).

We count compensation when it turns into cash or marketable stock; we do not value or count options until the executive exercises them. When calculating a chief executive's total pay, we measure the following for the company's latest fiscal year: salary and cash bonuses; other compensation, such as vested stock grants; and stock gains, the value realized by exercised stock options.

In our seventh annual performance-versus-pay scorecard, we again set out to find the executives who delivered the most to shareholders relative to their total compensation. This year, we found 175 chief executives whose company has been publicly trading since April 2002, have been in office at least six years and have at least six years of pay history.

Our grading uses four factors. One is the company's stock performance (including dividends) relative to that of its industry peers over six years. Two others are annualized stock performance during the leader's tenure and performance relative to the S&P 500 during that time. The last factor is total compensation over the past six years.

After a few years' hiatus as the most valuable boss in our annual report, Jeffrey P. Bezos of Amazon.com once again leads all executives in delivering the most value for the money. Over the past six years, Bezos has been paid a modest $1 million (salary plus other compensation) per year while delivering a 32% annual return to shareholders.

It is worth noting that Bezos has received the same modest $82,000 annual base salary each year and that his annual perk of $1 million covers the cost of his security arrangements. Since Bezos took his company public as chief executive in May 1997, he has delivered an annual 40% return to shareholders, which is significantly better than the 6% annual return of the S&P 500 over that period.

At the bottom of our performance/pay rankings is Mozilo of Countrywide Financial, the distressed subprime mortgage lender. Countrywide's six-year annual return of -9% lagged in comparison with its sector, and its -6% annual return since Mozilo took over as top executive in February 1998 also lagged the S&P 500. Over the past six years, Mozilo has been collecting a paycheck averaging $66 million a year.

Components of Compensation

Salary: Annual base salary earned during the fiscal year.

Bonus: Annual non-equity incentives earned during the fiscal year and discretionary bonuses.

Other: Includes long-term non-equity incentive payouts, the value realized from vesting of restricted stock and performance shares. Also includes other executive personal benefits, such as premiums for supplemental life insurance, annual medical examinations, tax preparation and financial counseling fees, club memberships, security services and the use of corporate aircraft.

Stock gains: Value realized during the fiscal year by exercising vested options granted in previous years. The gain is the difference between the stock price on the date of exercise and the exercise price of the option.

My OPINION:::::::::

Recognize any of the companies?  Families loosing homes and these guys complaining about their interest on return. 

Middle and poor families fore going meals to pay for gas to keep their jobs and these bastards at the country club signing the company name.

Families with out health care and these ass holes with fully paid insurance by the companies.

I remember of years gone by when the people on "the hill" would come to town and donate money, time and love to help the town survive.  They knew they needed the town and the town needed them in moments of poor times.

I guess the new slogan of the rich is " The poor get poorer and we get richer and richer and richer" or " Who needs these Americans when we can get cheap imported labor."

Thank you for listening to one pissed off American...............