WASHINGTON (AFP) — Top executives with hefty pay packages at US corporations are delivering more benefits for their firms than their lower-paid counterparts, a consulting firm survey showed Tuesday.
The study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a global consulting firm, found that total compensation for chief executives at the top 1,072 companies was a median 7.9 million dollars.
It also revealed that at the higher-performing companies, pay packages were a median of 10.5 million dollars compared with 6.0 million at lower-performing firms.
"The evidence from this year's study clearly indicates that most boards of directors are linking executive pay to financial performance, when pay is measured by its realizable value," said Ira Kay, global director of compensation consulting at Watson Wyatt.
"Executives who deliver above-average performance are earning significantly more than those who don't deliver. And many executives are losing great amounts of wealth when their companies perform poorly. Both are shareholder-friendly outcomes."
The survey comes amid a fierce debate on CEO pay. A backlash over extravagant pay packages for US corporate executives has moved from boardrooms to Congress and even to the White House.
President George W. Bush, in a visit to Wall Street in February, urged corporate boards to tie lavish pay and bonuses to job performance.
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