Administration June 26, 2008

CEO Accumulated Wealth Grew 6% in 2007

June 26, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The latest issue of Executive Compensation Trends from Equilar reveals that from 2006 to 2007, the median value of total stock holdings and accumulated retirement benefits for Fortune 500 CEOs increased by 6.1%, rising from $53.4 million to $56.7 million.
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An Equilar news release said these amounts include pension benefits, deferred compensation, outstanding option awards, unvested stock awards, and shares owned outright. A review of Compensation Discussion and Analysis (CD&A) reports at Fortune 500 companies found the prevalence of companies that considered accumulated wealth when determining executive pay levels increased from 8.4% in 2006 to 14.5% in 2007, the announcement said.

The report also includes findings on pay for Non-Rxecutive board Chairs and Lead Directors. Equilar found median total board-level compensation for Non-Executive Chairs at Fortune 500 companies increased from $258,500 in 2006 to $264,000 in 2007 and for Lead Directors, median total compensation increased from $174,843 to $189,413.

In 2007, 71.7% of Non-Executive Chairs and 45.8% of Lead Directors at Fortune 500 companies received a pay premium over regular Board members not holding a leadership role. The data also indicates the prevalence of Fortune 500 companies with independent Board leadership positions grew from 78.4% to 80.9%.

To obtain a complete copy of Equilar’s June newsletter, please call 1-877-441-6090 or visit  www.equilar.com .

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