Glass Half Full for Corning Execs

Corning (GLW) chief Jim Houghton carried off a hefty pile of cash last year.

The glassmaker's chairman and CEO got a $2.3 million bonus on top of his $950,000 salary. The big paycheck came as a reward for guiding the company toward growth opportunities in liquid crystal display screens and for trimming debt by $1.4 billion, according to a federal filing Monday.

Houghton also received two installments of options on 900,000 Corning shares with a strike price of $3.97.

As a top supplier of optical fiber, Corning surged during the Internet bubble and collapsed in the aftermath. Houghton was named CEO in May 2002, and continued to wind down fiber production. At the same time, he oversaw the expansion of the company's glass-display business.

Corning CFO Jim Flaws also was on the receiving end of the 2003 pay booty. Flaws got a bonus of $1.3 million on top of his $675,000 salary. And COO Wendell Weeks received a bonus of $1.6 million above his $750,000 pay.

Corning's stock tripled last year as the company broadened its operations into new areas, downplaying its reliance on the sagging demand for telecommunications fiber. The stock closed down 5 cents Monday at $12.68.

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