New CEOs Join The $50 Million Club

The stock market is performing brilliantly, many companies have begun to hire new workers and consumer confidence is up for the first time in years, that of course can only mean one thing, big time raises for powerful CEOs.

USA Today revealed on Thursday that two new CEOs have joined the “$50 Million Club” a group as you can guess includes company chiefs who earn $50 million or more per year.

The new CEOs were discovered through annual proxy statements that were filed within the last week for Occidental Petroleum which revealed CEO Ray Irani (pictured above) took in $80.4 million last year.

In Irani’s case his money actually arrived through $48.7 million in previously awarded shares that didn’t vest until 2011, while he was also awarded a $26 million payout from a previous grant plus a$19 million incentive award. The 77-year-old CEO stepped aside in May 2011 but he still remains as the executive chairman.

The other statement comes from Gilead Sciences who’s chief John Martin who earned $54.5 million in 2011. To earn his CEO pay Martin was given a stock grant of $5.5 million and stock options valued at $5.8 million. Martin was also awarded $36 million in stock options and received already vested shares worth $2.9 million.

The company’s involved in the raises saw stock prices jump for the better in 2011 while corporate profits also increased on a positive trend.

While those numbers are impressive they are nowhere near Apple’s Tim Cook who earned $378 million last year, however in Cook’s case all but $2 million of those earnings are based on restricted stock for which half will vest in five years and the rest will become vested in 2021.

Here’s a few more CEO’s in the $50 million club:

• Tyco International’s Ed Breen, $68.9 million
• Starbucks’ Howard Schultz, $68.8 million
• Walt Disney’s Robert Iger, $52.8 million

In what might be the most surprising shift in cash J.C. Penney’s Ron Johnson received $51.5 million in November just for taking over as CEO of the company. Johnson’s cash however is tied directly to his performance as $50 million of that pay is tied up in restricted shares. If Johnson can’t turn J.C. Penney around his stock could literally be worthless.

With the country still pulling itself out of the great recession and many employees seeking new jobs after massive layoffs it will be interesting to see if increased CEO pay includes new jobs at some of America’s top companies. After all aren’t these massively rich chiefs supposed to be “job creators.”

Do you think $50 million per year CEO’s are being severely over paid for their work?