Most CEO salaries were stunted in 2007
Study finds a slowdown in CEO pay raises. But top executives at S&P 500 companies continue to see 16% increases.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The average rate of pay for top executives came down last year though CEOs at larger companies received substantial raises, according to a study released Thursday.
The Corporate Library, an independent corporate governance research firm, surveyed compensation data from 614 small and mid-sized U.S. companies based on SEC documents filed in the first quarter of 2008.
Overall, the median rate of increase in CEO pay for all companies in the study was 5%, which is down from nearly 13% the year before, and marks the second consecutive year that pay raises have slowed.
The lackluster increase was "driven largely by base salary rises and increases in the cost of benefits and perquisites," said Senior Research Associate Paul Hodgson, the author of the study.
But a dramatic fall in the number of CEOs receiving cash bonuses contributed significantly to the overall slowdown in pay growth, he added.
Meanwhile, CEOs of companies in the S&P 500 saw their pay rise nearly 16% thanks mostly to higher profits from stock options and higher value gained from vested stock awards.
The study also found that costs related to executive perks unexpectedly rose.
There was a "general impression" that companies would move away from providing executive-level benefits like private jets and professional investment advice. But nearly two-thirds of the companies surveyed saw perk-related costs rise.
"Perhaps the high cost of jet fuel is driving costs up," Hodgson said.
Nabeel Gareeb, chief executive of semiconductor part supplier MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR), was the highest paid CEO so far this year. He took in more than $79.5 million in total actual compensation, an increase of about 1,430%, largely due to a $77 million profit on stock options.
The largest "discretionary" bonus - nearly $30 million - went to Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Many of the highest bonuses went to CEOs of financial institutions, including Wachovia (WB, Fortune 500), Bank of New York Mellon (BK, Fortune 500), Prudential Financial (PRU, Fortune 500) and American Express (AXP, Fortune 500). 
