Nooyi, Jha among highest paid CEOs in US: WSJ survey

PepsiCo's India-born chief Indra Nooyi and Motorola Mobility's Sanjay Jha are among the highest paid CEOs in the US, according to new estimates that say salaries and bonuses for chief executives running 350 major companies surged 11% to $9.3 million in 2010.

Executives at the biggest US companies saw their pay jump sharply in 2010, as boards rewarded them for strong profit and share-price growth with bigger bonuses and stock grants, the Wall Street Journal said in its latest CEO Compensation survey.

According to the companies' proxy statements studied for the Journal by management consultancy Hay Group, the median value of salaries, bonuses and long-term incentive awards for CEOs of 350 major companies grew 11 per cent in 2010. This increase followed a year in which "pay for the top boss was flat at these companies".

In the 350-strong list, Nooyi is among the five CEOs of Indian-origin at the helm of major US corporations. Giving her company on the highest paid CEO list is OfficeMax CEO Ravi Saligram, Motorola's Jha and Quest Diagnostics' Surya Mohapatra. Citigroup's Vikram Pandit comes in last in the list since he earned no compensation in 2010, following his decision to take a $1 salary per year and no other compensation until Citi returns to "sustained profitability".

Apple boss Steve Jobs also came in at the rear of the list as he too did not take any compensation or salary for 2010.

Nooyi's total direct compensation in 2010 was $13.78 million, which included her salary of $1.3 million dollars, annual incentives of $3 million, stock option grants of $3.23 million and performance awards totalling $6.25 million. Nooyi's compensation however declined 0.2% from 2009.

Saligram, who heads the office supplies giant, earned a total compensation of $12.03 million dollars in 2010 that included a salary of $1.21 lakh , stock option grants of $9.21 million and restricted stock grants of $2.26 million.

Jha's total direct compensation was $11.92 million. His 2010 salary was $9 lakh dollars and he earned annual incentives of $1 million and about $10 million in stock option and restricted stock grants.

Mohapatra, whose company is the leading provider of diagnostic testing and services, earned $10.39 million  in total compensation that included a salary of $1.23 million and annual incentives of $1.2 million. His stock option, restricted stock grants and performance awards totalled about $8 million. Mohapatra's total compensation declined 3.7% from 2009.

The Wall Street Journal CEO Compensation Study analysed executive pay for those big US public companies by revenue that filed their definitive proxy statements between May 1, 2010 and April 30, 2011.

It took into account salary, bonuses and the granted value of stock, stock options and other long-term incentives given for service in fiscal 2010.

Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman topped the list. He received compensation valued at $84.3 million, more than double his 2009 pay, thanks mainly to equity awards.

Oracle's billioniare founder Larry Ellison came in second. He received compensation valued at $68.6 million, consisting mostly of options valued at $61.9 million.

CBS CEO Leslie Moonves was the third top earning CEO with compensation totalling $53.9 million. The total includes a $27.5 million bonus.

News Corp's Rupert Murdoch ranked 52nd on the list with total compensation valued at $16.5 million. JP Morgan Chase's James Dimon earned a total compensation of $23 million that included $1 million salary and $12 million in restricted stock grants.

The sharpest pay gains for the CEOs came via bonuses, which soared 19.7% as profits recovered, particularly in some hard-hit industries.

Profits and share prices increased even more than CEO compensation. Net income rose by a median of 17%.

However, several chief executives experienced sizable drops in pay. Occidental Petroleum's Ray Irani saw his 2010 compensation drop 71% to $14.9 million.

"The decline mainly grew out of a shareholder backlash that prompted the big oil concern to set a new policy last year, cutting its longtime leader's maximum compensation by nearly three quarters," the Journal said.