Altria CEO Gets $11.6M In Compensation In 2008

Most of Szymanczyk's 2008 pay was given as stock awards that the company valued at $6.7 million when they were granted on Jan. 30, 2008, and April 23, 2008. He was also paid a salary of $1.2 million and a performance-based bonus of $2.8 million.

He also got nearly $1 million in executive perks, including personal use of company planes worth $572,259, reimbursement of taxes on assets held for retirement of $208,860 and a $180,000 deposit to a defined contribution plan.

Altria, which owns Philip Morris USA, is dealing with declining cigarette sales volumes as consumers turn away from smoking and face higher prices from tax increases. Most recently, the federal excise tax on cigarettes rose to $1 per pack from 39 cents on April 1, a move that should translate directly into fewer cigarettes purchased.

In an effort to move beyond cigarettes, Altria and its next biggest rival, Reynolds American Inc., have introduced a number of smokeless products to keep smokers as buyers of other types of tobacco. They are trying to convert smokers to using smokeless alternatives such as moist snuff, chewing tobacco and snus. Snus are teabag-like pouches that users stick between their cheek and gum.