CEO PAY DROPS, BUT... CASH IS KING

摘要

Here's a bit of good news for the Washington finger wag-gers who think executive compensation has gotten out of hand: A survey of 81 big companies shows that CEO pay-dropped by 8.6% last year. Now for the worrisome twist: The cash portion of their compensation rose 8.3%. That's a sign that companies are de-emphasizing long-term incentives for their top guys, a particular bugaboo of Kenneth Feinberg, President Barack Obama's executive pay cop. Feinberg and many shareholder activists argue that CEOs should have a stake in the success or failure of their companies. The value of stock-option grants, that much loved tool of incentive compensation, dropped 30% last year for the CEOs included in the analysis.