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CNBC ON DIGG

Who's The Most Overpaid S&P 500 CEO? Underpaid?

Topics:Stock Market | Mergers & Acquisitions | Management | CEOs and CFOs

By: Mary Thompson, Reporter | 09 Oct 2008 | 03:51 PM ET

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As government officials weigh how to limit executive pay at financial firms looking for a handout from the bailout, proxy advisor Glass Lewis & Co. has released its report on executive pay in 2007.

Mary Thompson
CNBC Reporter

Using its own pay-for-performance formula, Glass Lewis, reveals the 25 S&P 500 CEOs it considers to be the most overpaid, and the 25 it sees as the most underpaid. (The report also takes a look at Russell 3000 CEOs as well.)

The formula takes annual compensation into account. It also includes the company's performance, using metrics that include the firm's 2007 net income, its share price performance and its return on equity. What the formula excludes is a CEO's deferred compensation, which is included in a CEO's total compensation as disclosed in SEC filings.

What companies overpaid their CEOs? According to the report, SprintNextel [S Loading... () ], homebuilders KB Homes [KBH Loading... () ] and Pulte Homes [ Loading... () ], CBS [CBS Loading... () ], General Motors [GM Loading... () ] and Ford [F Loading... () ]. It is interesting to note, the CEOs of the failed brokerages Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers weren't included on the list. But remember, their troubles, while apparent last year, accelerated in 2008.

As far as the best values, Apple [AAPL Loading... () ], Amazon [AMZN Loading... () ] and the oil services firm Schlumberger [SLB Loading... () ] were among those companies underpaying their executives, executives who delivered superior performance last year.

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Top 25 Underpaid CEOs - S&P 500

Rank	Company Name
1	Apple Inc.
2	MEMC Electronic Materials Inc.
3	Leucadia National Corp.
4	Titanium Metals Corp.
5	Amazon.com Inc.
6	Stryker Corp.
7	Allegheny Energy Inc.
8	Schlumberger Ltd.
9	Waters Corp.
10	Microsoft Corp.
11	Questar Corp.
12	Host Hotels & Resorts Inc.
13	Windstream Corp.
14	C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc.
15	NYSE EURONEXT
16	Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
17	CME Group Inc.
18	Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.
19	National Oilwell Varco Inc.
20	Apache Corp.
21	Google Inc.
22	TECO Energy Inc.
23	Sigma-Aldrich Corp.
24	AutoZone Inc.
25	PPL Corp.

Source: Glass Lewis & Co.

Top 25 Overpaid CEOs - S&P500

Rank	Company Name
1	Sprint Nextel Corp.
2	KB Home
3	Jones Apparel Group Inc.
4	E*TRADE Financial Corp.
5	Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.
6	Masco Corp.
7	Liz Claiborne Inc.
8	Pulte Homes Inc.
9	CBS Corp
10	McKesson Corp.
11	Electronic Arts Inc.
12	General Motors Corp.
13	Dynegy Inc.
14	Computer Sciences Corp.
15	Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
16	Regions Financial Corp.
17	Nabors Industries Ltd.
18	Ashland Inc.
19	Office Depot Inc.
20	Ford Motor Co.
21	Tenet Healthcare Corp.
22	XL Capital Ltd.
23	King Pharmaceuticals Inc.
24	MGIC Investment Corp.
25	Tyson Foods Inc.