Executives, Executive Pay | featured news

Total pay for CVS Caremark's chief executive and president, Larry Merlo, jumped 44% to $20.3 million last year, according to an SEC filing.

Sears Holding Corp. has signed a contract with Edward Lampert to keep him on as CEO of the company at a salary of $1 per year. A regulatory document filed Wednesday shows that the billionaire hedge fund manager will be paid an annual base salary of $1, but with the opportunity for a bonus of up to $2 million in cash or stock and up to $4.5 million in stock per year.

The subject of CEO compensation looks like it will get time under the microscope in American Airlines' Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. The U.S. trustee overseeing the bankruptcy case of American parent AMR has filed an objection to the $19.8 million severance package that current CEO Tom Horton is set to get when he leaves the company next year, according to Reuters. Also included in the objection are severance and retention payments slated for other company employees.

The new head of UBS's investment bank Andrea Orcel received a $26m (£17m; 20m euros) "golden hello" in 2012, the bank's annual report has revealed. Mr Orcel is in the process of overhauling the investment business, with 2,000 job losses expected.

Coca-Cola Co. gave Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent a pay package worth $21.6 million last year, as the world's biggest beverage maker navigated shifting drinking habits in the U.S. and sold more of its drinks overseas. The compensation is up from the $21.2 million Kent received in 2011, according to an Associated Press analysis.

Discover Financial's CEO David Nelms received $9.96 million in compensation in fiscal 2012, down 28% from the previous year due to lower stock awards.

Richard Handler's compensation for 2012 pushes him ahead of some top executives at larger Wall Street rivals.

Today, Hostess Brands inc. — the company famed for its sickly sweet dessert snacks like Twinkies and Sno Balls — announced they’d be shuttering after more than eighty years of production. But while headlines have been quick to blame unions for the downfall of the company there’s actually more to the story: While the company was filing for bankruptcy, for the second time, earlier this year, it actually tripled its CEO’s pay, and increased other executives’ compensation by as much as 80 percent.

Shifting from Google's CEO to executive chairman proved to be lucrative career move for Eric Schmidt....

But corporate watchdogs are hopeful that the most egregious pay practices can be reined in as new 'say-on-pay' votes and other investor-friendly rules take effect. The $6.4 million that Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. paid Chief Executive Craig Martin last year normally wouldn't have raised many eyebrows.