Some Software CEOs Felt the Pain; Some Just the Gain

Still, CEO paychecks have held their value far better than many technology stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index lost nearly 32% of its value in the same period.

Factoring in salary hikes, overall pay packages for tech CEOs fell last year because executives' stock options lost so much value. Options account for the bulk of CEO compensation, contributing about 60% of overall pay in 2001. And last year the value of options dropped 28%.

Some companies made up the difference in the value of the options by granting more to their CEOs. Bernard Liautaud, CEO of Business Objects(BOBJ Quote), was granted 250,000 options in 2002, compared to 175,000 the year before. His combined salary and bonus was down less than 1% at $745,103. BOBJ's proxy filing also revealed some of the perks enjoyed by the CEO of a major company. Over the last three years, the company has picked up tabs for family travel, life insurance premiums and tax preparation fees valued at $37,489. Meanwhile, stock in Business Objects dropped 56% last year.

Similarly, Mercury Interactive(MERQ Quote) picked up the tab for taxes on vehicles it had purchased for CEO Ammon Landan over the years. The accumulated bill came to $124,000. Landan's 2002 option grant was flat at 700,000 shares, while his cash compensation increased by 22% to $1,181,250. During the same period of time, Mercury was off 13.6%.

Adobe(ADBE Quote) CEO Bruce Chizen, whose company lost about 22% of its value in 2002, took a hit to his cash compensation package -- it dropped 9% to $1,108,112, while his options were flat at 850,000.

Looking beyond the Nasdaq, Equilar found that median total cash compensation of S&P 500 execs increased to $1.8 million, which represents a 9.8% increase over the 2001 levels of $1.64 million. But long-term incentives, which remain the largest component of executive pay, fell to $5.23 million in 2002, a 12.1% decline from 2001 levels of $5.95 million. Long-term incentives consist of stock option grants, restricted stock awards and long-term incentive plan payouts.