It's been an ugly year or two. Those of us lucky enough to have hung onto our jobs may not have received salary increases and we may not even be too upset about that, all things considered.
In loftier corporate levels, though, CEOs operate in a different setting. You probably won't be surprised to learn that CEO compensation has kept rising, in general, even in this crummy economy. Take Chesapeake Energy 's (NYSE: CHK) Aubrey McClendon, for example, whose compensation was in the neighborhood of $25 million in 2007 and then topped $100 million in 2008, according to CNNMoney. Yikes.
Still, here's some uplifting news: Some CEOs saw a decrease in their base salaries. Check it out:
Company
Recent CEO Base Pay Cut
General Motors
Cut to just $1
Ford Motor (NYSE: F)
Reduced by 30%
FedEx (NYSE: FDX)
Reduced by 20%
American Express (NYSE: AXP)
Reduced by 10%
Motorola (NYSE: MOT)
Reduced by 25%
EMC (NYSE: EMC) Continued...
Selena Maranjian prepares the Fool's syndicated newspaper column, writes articles for Fool.com, has coordinated the Fool's annual Foolanthropy charity drive, and has written a number of Fool books, among other things.
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