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Ecolab CEO Baker Gets $5.7 Million In 2008

The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Cleaning and pest services company Ecolab Inc. Chief Executive Douglas M. Baker Jr. received compensation valued at $5.7 million in 2008, down 33 percent from his 2007 pay package.

According to an Associated Press analysis of a proxy statement filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Baker received $1 million in base salary, up from $900,000 a year earlier. He earned a performance-based bonus of about $1.4 million, which is lower than the nearly $2 million he received in 2007.

Baker also received $157,560 in other compensation, or "perks," including costs associated with financial planning and spousal travel. That also includes $25,217 in life insurance premiums and $86,680 in matching contributions to savings and retirement plans. A year earlier, Baker received $180,094 in perks.

A large portion of Baker's compensation came from stock and stock options, which were valued at about $3.1 million when granted.

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive's compensation in the previous fiscal year.

Last month, the St. Paul, Minn.-based company said fourth-quarter profit slipped 29 percent on a $19 million writedown of investments in an energy management business and restructuring costs. The company in January said it planned to cut 1,000 jobs.

Last year, the stock declined 31.2 percent.