IMS CEO Got $5.9M Compensation Package In 2008

IMS collects health care data such as drug prescriptions and analyzes them for its clients, including drugmakers, biotechnology companies, researchers and government agencies. IMS said its profit grew 33 percent in 2008, to $331.3 million, or $1.70 per share, and its revenue grew 6 percent, to $2.33 billion.

The Associated Press' compensation 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 SEC, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive's compensation in the previous fiscal year.