I wouldn’t know about you but this is depressing stuff if you’d ask me. The recession has cost many average Americans their jobs and the last thing that they’d want to hear or read or even know about would be the millions of dollars corporate executives are getting. That’s why shame on all the big companies that have been paying their execs top dollar with taxpayer’s money.
Anyway, CNN through Equilar Inc posted the list of the top 10 highest paid executives for 2008 The list is headed by Chesapeake Energy Chairman and CEO Aubrey McClendon who raked in a total of $112.5 million. The last person in the list (Oracle’s Safra Catz) took $42.3 million. Less than half of McClendon’s but Average Joe wouldn’t even probably get a tenth of that in a lifetime.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game? Well, that’s a bunch of bullcrap in this economy.
Aubrey K. McClendon
Chairman and CEO
Chesapeake Energy (CHK)
2008 Total compensation: $112.5 million
Base salary: $975,000
Sanjay K. Jha
Co-CEO
Motorola (MOT)
2008 Total compensation: $104.5 million
Base salary: $484,615
Lawrence J. Ellison
CEO
Oracle (ORCL)
2008 Total compensation: $84.5 million
Base Salary: $1 million
Richard C. Adkerson
President and CEO
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX)
2008 Total compensation: $72.3 million
Base Salary: $2.5 million
Bob R. Simpson
Chairman of the Board
XTO Energy (XTO)
2008 Total compensation: $53.5 million
Base Salary: $1.6 million
Robert A. Iger
President and CEO
Walt Disney (DIS)
2008 Total compensation: $51.1 million
Base Salary: $2 million
Lloyd C. Blankfein
Chairman and CEO
Goldman Sachs (GS)
2008 Total compensation: $43 million
Base Salary: $600,000
Kenneth I. Chenault
Chairman and CEO
American Express (AXP)
2008 Total compensation: $42.8 million
Base Salary: $1.2 million
Jon Winkelried
President and Co-COO
Goldman Sachs (GS)
2008 Total compensation: $42.4 million
Base Salary: $600,000
Safra A. Catz
President
Oracle (ORCL)
2008 Total compensation: $42.3 million
Base Salary $800,000
