The Best-Paid CEOs Of The Decade: Ellison #1The Best-Paid CEOs Of The Decade: Ellison #1

Larry Ellison was the top-earning CEO of the decade across all industries, the Wall Street Journal reports, with total income of $1.836 billion. Apple's Steve Jobs came in fourth at $748.8 million. For Ellison, Jobs, and others, it's surprising-shocking?-to see how a $100 investment in each company's stock performed over that same decade.The Journal's comprehensive package on executive compensation includes several components, including the main article from which I've taken a few excerpts and also a richly detailed chart showing the breakdown in 10-year compensation for the best-paid CEOs across all industries.

From those resources, I've culled results for the five top earners from the tech business: Ellison, Jobs, Michael Dell, Cisco's John Chambers, and Yahoo's Terry Semel. Here's the lowdown on each from the Journal's compelling package:

1) Larry Ellison: over the decade, total compensation of $1.8357 billion; salary of $6.7 million; bonus, $41.6 million; gains on options, $1.7783 billion; other, $9.1 million; and return on $100 investment, $316.64.

From the article: "Oracle shareholders saw the value of their stock triple, while shareholders of Apple saw their stock soar nearly 12 times over. But shareholders of another tech giant, Dell Inc., lost 66% of the value of their stock during the decade, while CEO Michael Dell, who launched the computer maker in his dorm room in the 1980s, brought home $454 million. . . .

"Consider Mr. Ellison, a 65-year-old sailing enthusiast who founded Oracle in 1977. In the 10 years ended May 31, 2009, the most recent fiscal year for which Oracle has disclosed pay data, its market capitalization nearly tripled, to $98 billion, from $36 billion," the Journal says.

"It has since risen further. Mr. Ellison's 23% stake in Oracle is valued at roughly $28.8 billion. Realized gains on options accounted for 97% of Mr. Ellison's total compensation."

4) Steve Jobs Total compensation for the decade of $748.8 million; salary, $0; bonus, $45.8 million; restricted stock gains, $646.6 million; gains on options, $14.6 million; other, $41.8 million; return on $100 investment, $1,171.0. (Talk about symmetry: Jobs' return on $100 investment ranked fourth on the list for the top 25, and his compensation also ranked fourth.)

From the article: "Apple's Mr. Jobs also took a $1 annual salary throughout the decade. But he ranked fourth primarily because of a $647 million gain on restricted stock that was granted in 2003 and vested in 2006. He still holds the shares," the article says.

"Apple directors gave Mr. Jobs the restricted stock in exchange for stock options that were then worthless, but which ultimately would have been worth more than the restricted stock had Mr. Jobs held them. Apple later acknowledged that some of the options exchanged for the restricted shares had been backdated, boosting their value, and restated its financial results."

8) Terry Semel For his six years as CEO of Yahoo, Semel earned total compensation of $489.6 million; salary, $2.8 million; bonus, $0.9 million; gains on options, $485.8 million; other, $0.1 million; return on $100 for the decade, $278.69.

12) Michael Dell Total compensation for the decade of $453.8 million; salary, $9.7 million; bonus, $9.0 million; gains on options, $429.2 million; other, $5.9 million; return on $100 investment for the decade, $33.56.

From the article: "A Dell spokesman said most of Mr. Dell's compensation reflected gains on options granted in the 1990s, when Dell's stock price soared. He noted that Mr. Dell hasn't received a bonus for four years and hasn't been granted stock or stock options for six years."

17) John Chambers Total compensation for the decade, $393.2 million; salary, $2.4 million; bonus, $14 million; gains on options, $376.2 million; return on $100 investment for the decade, $70.86.

Again, the main Journal article is here and the detailed chart is here.

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