Home > Executive Compensation
How Much Do They Make?
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Did You Know? |
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The typical British CEO gets paid a little more than half what a U.S. CEO makes.
Learn more.
Outrageous executive pay often continues in retirement.
Learn more.
80% of Democrats and Republicans think CEOs of larger corporations are paid too much.
(L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll) | |
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How much does your CEO make? Our table below shows annual compensation for CEOs of some of CWA's major employers (and, where available, chief executives of public employers) as well as how many times larger that compensation is than an employee who makes $40,000. (To compare your actual pay to your CEO's, visit the Executive Paywatch database.)
The chief executives of 500 biggest companies in the U.S. averaged $10.9 million in compensation for 2005.
A number of these CEOs and former executives have managed to pile up fortunes, ranging all the way up to Bill Gates, the richest person in the world, worth $50 BILLION. Echostar CEO Charles Ergen has a net worth of $6.7 billion. (Forbes, 400 Richest Americans and World's Billionaires.)
Some of our employers are among the 100 highest paid CEOs in the country. In addition to the millions they're getting now, they can expect enormous pensions when they retire.
(CEOs generally receive many other payments and perks when they retire, including "consulting" contracts for millions, lifetime health and welfare benefits, and continued use of company cars, drivers, planes, and apartments.)
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CWA Employers in the Top 100 |
|
Rank |
Co. |
CEO |
1-Year Pay |
5-Year Pay |
|
|
56 |
IBM |
Sam Palmisano |
$21,300,000 |
$57,580,000 |
$ 4,000,000 |
|
64 |
AT&T |
Ed Whitacre |
$19,460,000 |
$92,550,000 |
$ 5,494,107 |
|
65 |
Sprint-Nextel |
Gary Forsee |
$19,420,000 |
$27,600,000 |
|
|
67 |
GE |
Jeffrey Immelt |
$19,230,000 |
$72,230,000 |
$ 2,300,000 |
|
97 |
BellSouth |
Duane Ackerman |
$13,970,000 |
$43,300,000 |
$ 2,512,300 |
| Sources: Pay ranking, Forbes, CEO Compensation; pensions, AFL-CIO PayWatch |
2005 CEO Compensation
Company compensation includes salary, bonus, perks, and the value of stock option grants. We will continue to update this list as employers release their compensation information.
|
Airlines |
|
Employer |
CEO |
Year |
Compensation |
Multiple of $40,000 |
| AirTran |
Joseph Leonard |
2005 |
$ 990,308 |
25 |
| Alaska Air |
William Ayer |
2005 |
$ 1,150,470 |
29 |
| American |
Gerald Arpey |
2005 |
$ 1,456,180 |
36 |
| Mesa Air Group |
Jonathan Ornstein |
2005 |
$ 1,660,138 |
42 |
| Northwest |
Douglas Steenland |
2004 |
$ 4,421,480 |
111 |
| United |
Glenn Tilton |
2005 |
$ 1,115,015 |
28 |
| US Airways |
Parker |
2005 |
$ 7,405,985 |
185 |
| US Airways |
Lakefield |
2005 |
$ 2,213,473 |
55 |
| Parker was CEO of America West prior to the 2005 US Airways-America West merger and is now CEO of US Airways. Lakefield was CEO of US Airways before the merger and is now Vice Chairman of the board. |
|
Health Care |
|
Employer |
CEO |
Year |
Compensation |
Multiple of $40,000 |
| HCA |
Jack Bovender |
2004 |
$ 8,309,928 |
208 |
| The Frist family, founders of HCA, have a net worth of $1.7 billion. |
| Kaleida Health |
William D. McGuire |
2004 |
$ 1,780,157* |
45 |
| *Includes $296,693 contribution to employee benefit plans for McGuire. |
| United Healthcare |
William W. McGuire |
2004 |
$ 36,988,014 |
925 |
| While United Healthcare isn't a CWA employer, it is the health plan carrier of choice for AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, and NJ state workers. Since 1995, McGuire has pocketed at least $450 million by exercising his stock options. On top of that, he still holds stock options worth $1.6 BILLION. And when he retires, McGuire will receive a pension of more than $5 million a year! |
|
High Tech |
|
Employer |
CEO |
Year |
Compensation |
Multiple of $40,000 |
| IBM |
Samuel Palmisano |
2005 |
$ 20,389,580 |
510 |
| Palmisano was cited by the AFL-CIO's Executive Paywatch project as having one of the largest pensions among CEO's. When he retires, Palmisano will receive $4 million a year! |
| Microsoft |
Steve Ballmer |
2004 |
$ 1,009,073 |
25 |
| Microsoft founder Bill Gates, worth $50 BILLION, is the richest person in the world. Co-founder Paul Allen has a net worth of $22 billion and ranks 6th in the world, while Ballmer comes in 24th, with $13.6 billion. |
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Higher Education |
|
Employer |
President/Chancellor |
Year |
Compensation |
Multiple of $40,000 |
| Ohio State University |
Karen Holbrook |
2005 |
$ 539,252 |
13 |
| SUNY |
John Ryan |
2004 |
$ 340,000 |
9 |
| University of CA |
Robert Dynes |
2005 |
$ 405,000 |
10 |
| (UC has been under intense criticism for its compensation practices, including undisclosed perks and deferred compensation to many senior employees. Read more at UC's website.) |
| University of VA |
John Casteen |
2005 |
$ 659,670 |
16 |
|
Manufacturing |
|
Employer |
CEO |
Year |
Compensation |
Multiple of $40,000 |
| Delphi |
J.T. Battenberg |
2004 |
$ 6,287,384 |
157 |
| GE |
Jeffrey Immelt |
2005 |
$ 15,412,870 |
385 |
| GM |
Richard Wagoner |
2005 |
$ 10,958,610 |
274 |
|
Wagoner has now taken a 50% cut in his salary; other top officers took 10%-30% salary cuts. |
| Lockheed Martin |
Robert Stevens |
2005 |
$ 9,028,217 |
226 |
| Maytag |
Ralph Hake |
2004 |
$ 1,905,387 |
48 |
| Visteon |
Michael Johnston |
2005 |
$ 7,654,801 |
191 |
| Whirlpool |
Jeff Fettig |
2005 |
$ 2,952,046 |
74 |
|
Media |
|
Employer |
CEO |
Year |
Compensation |
Multiple of $40,000 |
| Corp. for Public Broadcasting |
Kathleen Cox |
2005 |
$ 170,000 |
4 |
|
Cox got a $614,000 severance deal that didn't appear in public records, though she received only $400,000 of it before the deal was exposed. CPB has since instituted reforms that are supposed to provide more oversight. |
| Cox Communications |
James Robbis |
2005 |
$ 8,908,114 |
223 |
|
Sisters Barbara Cox Anthony and Ann Cox Chambers inherited the family fortune and are EACH worth $12.4 billion. |
| Dow Jones |
Peter Kann |
2005 |
$ 3,617,695 |
90 |
| Echostar (DISH) |
Charles Ergen |
2005 |
$ 1,824,014* |
46 |
|
*Ergen has a net worth of $6.7 billion. |
| Gannett |
Douglas McCorkindale |
2005 |
$ 8,345,621 |
209 |
| Knight-Ridder |
Anthony Ridder |
2005 |
$ 3,269,898 |
82 |
| Media General |
Stewart Bryan |
2005 |
$ 5,384,426 |
132 |
| Media General |
Marshall Morton |
2005 |
$ 3,759,965 |
94 |
| McClatchy |
Gary Pruitt |
2005 |
$ 6,350,752 |
159 |
| New York Times |
Janet Robinson |
2005 |
$ 4,281,900 |
107 |
| Tribune Co. |
Dennis FitzSimmons |
2005 |
$ 3,460,000 |
87 |
| Walt Disney |
Michael Eisner |
2005 |
|
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| Walt Disney |
Robert Iger |
2005 |
|
|
| Roy Disney's net worth is $1.2 billion. |
| Washington Post |
Donald Graham |
2005 |
$ 811,316 |
20 |
|
State Government |
|
Employer |
CEO |
Year |
Compensation* |
Multiple of $40,000 |
| California |
Arnold Schwarzeneggar |
2005 |
$ 175,000 |
4 |
| Mississippi |
Haley Barbour |
2005 |
$ 121,800 |
3 |
| Missouri |
Matt Blunt |
2005 |
$ 120,086 |
3 |
| New Jersey |
John Corzine |
2005 |
$ 157,000 |
4 |
| Oklahoma |
Brad Henry |
2005 |
$ 110,299 |
3 |
| Texas |
Rick Perry |
2005 |
$ 115,345 |
3 |
| Governors also generally receive free housing, domestic staff, transportation, an expense account, and other perks. Get info on other states. |
| Telecom & Cable |
|
Employer |
CEO |
Year |
Compensation |
Multiple of $40,000 |
| Alltel |
Scott Ford |
2005 |
$ 6,719,750 |
168 |
| Alltel has spun off its wireline business, which will be combined with Valor Communications to form Windstream Communications. |
| AT&T |
Edward Whitacre |
2005 |
$ 17,181,223 |
430 |
| Avaya |
Donald Peterson |
2004 |
$ 3,168,154 |
79 |
| BellSouth |
Duane Ackerman |
2005 |
$ 11,256,900 |
281 |
| Cablevision |
Charles Dolan |
2005 |
$ 15,624,274* |
391 |
| Cablevision |
James Dolan |
2005 |
$10,113,913* |
253 |
| *These figures do not include the value of Dolans' stock option grants. Charles Dolan has a net worth of $2.1 billion. |
| Century Tel |
Glen Post |
2005 |
$ 6,736,197 |
168 |
| Charter |
Neil Smit |
2005 |
$ 4,971,954* |
124 |
| Charter |
Robert May |
2005 |
$ 2,199,139 |
55 |
| Charter |
Carl Vogel |
2005 |
$ 1,814,264 |
45 |
| Vogel was CEO until Jan. 2005. May was CEO from Jan.-August 2005. Smit became CEO August 2005. |
| Cincinnati Bell |
Jack Cassidy |
2005 |
$ 3,158,956 |
79 |
| Citizens |
Mary Agnes Wilderotter |
2005 |
$ 3,983,529 |
100 |
| Comcast |
Brian Roberts |
2005 |
$ 24,088,689 |
602 |
| Commonwealth |
Michael Mahoney |
2005 |
$ 3,137,834 |
78 |
| Embarq |
Dan Hesse |
2005 |
$ 6,136,705* |
153 |
Sprint Nextel spun off its wireline business as Embarq. Hesse's 2005 compensation reflects his pay as head of of Sprint Nextel's local telecom division.
*Does not include the value of Hesse's stock option grant. |
| Lucent |
Patricia Russo |
2005 |
$ 13,596,590 |
340 |
| Qwest |
Richard Notebaert |
2005 |
$ 14,832,811 |
371 |
| Sprint-Nextel |
Gary Forsee |
2005 |
$ 15,513,015 |
388 |
| Time Warner |
Richard Parsons |
2005 |
$ 16,004,074 |
400 |
| Valor |
Kenneth Cole |
2005 |
$ 2,062,679 |
52 |
| Valor |
John Mueller |
2005 |
$ 10,680,383 |
267 |
|
Mueller took over from Cole as CEO in May 2004, at which time Cole received a "transition bonus" of $5 million. Cole is now Vice Chairman of the company. |
| Verizon |
Ivan Seidenberg |
2005 |
$ 19,425,000 |
486 |
| Late in 2005, Seidenberg announced Verizon would cut off pension plan for non-represented employees. Seidenberg as a stash of more than $15 million in his retirement account. Learn more. |
| Windstream |
Jeff Gardner |
2005 |
$ 2,767,712* |
69 |
| Alltel has spun off its wireline business, which will be combined with Valor Communications to form Windstream Communications. Gardner's 2005 compensation reflects his pay as Executive VP and CFO of Alltel. *Does note include the value of Gardner's stock option grant. |
To compare your actual pay to your CEO's, visit the Executive Paywatch database.
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