In Lean Times, Fat-Cat CEOs Get Fatter

Shareholders in Qwest Communications (Q Quote) took a beating in 2001. The stock, which began the year at $40.88, finished at $14.13, a 65% decline.

But CEO Joseph Nacchio didn't share that pain. The company raised his salary in 2001 to $1.2 million from 2000's $860,000. And his total compensation for the year came to $102 million, including $75 million from exercising stock options and $24 million in long-term incentives dating back to 1997. Oh, and the company awarded Nacchio an additional 7.3 million new options to keep him focused on running the company in the future.

Qwest points out, rightly, that a good portion of Nacchio's compensation for 2001 -- some of the stock options and the long-term incentives, for example -- is actually carried over from his earlier years with the company. And that this compensation should be measured against the stock's movement from its initial public offering price of a split-adjusted price of $5.50 in June 1997. ...