Waste Management CEO Gets $6.2M Pay Package For 08

STEPHEN SINGER

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — David Steiner, chief executive of Waste Management Inc., received a compensation package of almost $6.2 million for 2008, down slightly from 2007 as the nation's No. 1 trash hauler cut his performance bonus to reflect the company's weaker results in a deteriorating economy, an analyis of a regulatory filing showed.

Steiner was paid a salary of $1.1 million, up nearly 7 percent from 2007, according to a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also got a performance-related bonus of $1.1 million, down more than one-third from $1.6 million the previous year.

In addition, he received $153,976 in other compensation, primarily for his personal use of the Houston-based company's jet and deferral plan matching contributions.

Steiner also received stock awards and options the company valued at $3.9 million when they were awarded on March 3, 2008.

His total compensation in 2008 was down 0.6 percent from $6.24 million in 2007, the AP analysis showed.

The Associated Press' compensation formula aims 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.