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CEO pay growth slows
A preliminary analysis finds growth in chief executive pay fell 63 percent in 2005, but still handily trumps worker raises.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – There are no paupers among CEOs of companies listed on the S&P indexes. But there has been a slowing in the growth of their pay, according to the latest research from The Corporate Library, a corporate governance watchdog. In a preliminary analysis of executive compensation, Corporate Library senior research associate Paul Hodgson found that total CEO compensation rose a median of 11.3 percent in fiscal year 2005, far below the 30.2 percent growth rate in last year's survey. Total CEO compensation includes salary, bonus, perquisites, long-term incentive payouts, the value of realized stock options and restricted stock. Just in terms of CEOs' base salary, the average increase was 8.5 percent, still multiples above that for workers, for whom the average pay increase in 2005 was 3.4 percent, according to Hewitt Associates. The biggest total compensation payout, Hodgson said, went to Bruce Karatz, who made over $156 million as CEO of home-building company KB Home (Research). That included $118 million in exercised stock options. The smallest payout – a goose egg – went to the CEOs of investment company Gladstone Capital Corporation (Research) and power-technology firm MagneTek (Research). Hodgson's analysis is based on the more than 500 companies that have filed their 2005 proxies so far. His final report, due out next fall, will cover over 2,000 companies. Between now and then the averages may change dramatically. "It's difficult to predict," Hodgson said, noting that it's not clear yet how much the agitating over CEO pay over the past several years has affected the 2005 pay packages. -------------------------------- Report: Boards to reel in CEO pay |
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