Despite the economy crumbling in 2008 and the S&P 500 decline by more than 37 percent, CEO compensation did experience the same descent, according to a report from The Corporate Library. Median total annual compensation for the companies included in the study declined by 0.08 percent in 2008, suggesting that the link between CEO pay and firm performance remains very weak. The report includes data from more than 2,700 public companies, more than any other CEO pay study.
Other key findings from the report include:
- The median decrease in total realized compensation was 6.38 percent, which is still well out of line with the economic downturn. (Total realized compensation includes the value realized on vesting of shares, option value realized, pension/non-qualified deferred compensation earnings and pension pay in the last year.)
- Approximately 75 percent of CEOs included in the study received a base salary increase in 2008, up from 73 percent in 2007.
- More CEOs saw declines in realized compensation in 2008 than in 2007 (just over 56 percent and 40 percent, respectively).
- Oracle CEO Lawrence Ellison is the only CEO to appear in The Corporate Library’s list of the top ten highest paid CEOs in both 2007 and 2008, having earned approximately $750 million in realized compensation over the period.