Administration March 11, 2000

CEOs Holding On To Options

November 3, 2000 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Chief executive officers (CEOs) at the vast majority of large corporations are holding on to their stock options, rather than cashing in, according to a new survey.
Reported by

The survey, conducted by Pearl Meyer & Partners, found that CEOs at 190 of the 200 biggest US companies are retaining vested options with average paper profits valued at $33.7 million (priced as of October 18). 

Four of the CEOs surveyed do not hold options – and six do not hold any vested options, according to Reuters.

The firm said the three CEOs with the biggest dollar value increase in their vested option holdings from fiscal year-end through October 18 were:

  • John Chambers – Cisco Systems (up $257 million year-to-date)
  • Kenneth Lay  – Enron Corp. (up $189 million increase)
  • Charles Watson  – Dynegy Inc. (up $143 million)

On the other hand, the volatile market hasn’t been kind to all stocks.  The survey also noted the following paper losses:

  • Bernard Ebbers  – WorldCom (down by $178 million)
  • Michael Dell  – Dell Computer (down $120 million)
  • Reuben Mark  – Colgate-Palmolive (down $98 million)

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