Biggest Executive Bonuses of the Past Decade

Photo: Southern Stock | Getty Images Executive compensation - particularly bonuses - has been the source of much fury both on Capitol Hill and on Main Street. The Obama administration has also set it sights on these pay packages, most recently by cracking down on executive compensation at bailed-out firms. Given the attention being paid to multi-million dollar paydays, CNBC.com enlisted the help of Equilar, an executive compensation research firm, to find out which executives received the most massive bonus payouts of the decade.By Brooke SopelsaPosted 29 Oct 2009Methodology:Equilar looked at the named executive officers among the Russell 3000 companies that received a bonus over the last 10 years. All values were taken from each company’s proxy statement. Only values included in the bonus column of the summary compensation table were considered. The firm excluded any equity awards not included in the bonus column along with cash distributions associated with ownership in the company.The following slideshow represents the top ten bonus recipients. Executives who received multiple record bonuses were ranked by their largest bonus amount, and their other record bonuses were mentioned at the bottom of the slide.

Photo: Getty Images Bonus:  $26,743,500Year:  2006Company:  Goldman SachsTitle:  President & COOCurrent Position @ Company:  President & COOOther record bonuses: Mr. Cohn also received a bonus of $26,585,474 in 2007.

Photo: University of Chicago Bonus:  $26,743,500Year:  2006Company:  Goldman SachsTitle:  President & COOCurrent Position @ Company:  Mr. Winkelried retired in 2009.Other record bonuses: Mr. Winkelried also received a bonus of $26,585,474 in 2007.

Photo: India Today Group | Getty Images Bonus:  $27,243,500Year:  2006Company:  Goldman SachsTitle:  Chairman & CEOCurrent Position @ Company:  Chairman & CEOOther record bonuses: Mr. Blankfein also received a bonus in 2007 of $26,985,474.

Photo: AP Bonus:  $29,000,000Year:  2003Company:  CitigroupTitle:  ChairmanCurrent Position @ Company:  Mr. Weill retired in 2006.

Photo: AP Bonus:  $30,000,000Year:  2004Company:  Las Vegas SandsTitle:  Chairman, CEO & TreasurerCurrent Position @ Company:  Chairman, CEO & Treasurer

Photo: Toll Brothers, Inc. Bonus:  $30,402,451Year:  2004Company:  Toll BrothersTitle:  Chairman & CEOCurrent Position @ Company:  Chairman & CEOOther record bonuses: Mr. Toll received a bonus of $27.3 million in 2005 paid in both cash and stock.

Photo: AP Bonus:  $33,000,000Year:  2000Company:  Marsh & McLennan CompaniesTitle:  President, Putnam InvestmentsCurrent Position @ Company: Mr. Lasser left the company in 2003. Other record bonuses: Mr. Lasser received a bonus of $26 million in 1999.

Photo: MilanPanic.com Bonus:  $33,550,000Year:  2002Company:  Valeant Pharmaceuticals InternationalTitle:  Chairman & CEOCurrent Position @ Company:  Mr. Panic left the company in 2002.

Photo: Umass.com/nabors Bonus:  $33,600,000Year:  2008Company:  Nabors IndustriesTitle:  Chairman & CEO  Current Position @ Company:  Chairman & CEOOther record bonuses: Mr. Isenberg received bonuses of $50.9 and $43.2 million in 2007 and 2006, of which he received $22.5 and $22 million in cash, respectively.

Photo: XTO Energy Bonus:  $35,500,000Year:  2007Company:  XTO EnergyTitle:  Chairman & CEOCurrent position @ company:  ChairmanOther record bonuses: Mr. Simpson received a $31 million bonus in 2005 and 2006, and a $30 million bonus in 2008.

Photo: Getty Images Bonus:  $43,511,534Year: 2001 Company:  AppleTitle:  CEOCurrent Position @ Company: CEO

© 2009 CNBC.com