Top 10 $1-Per-Year Salary-Earning CEOs

Believe it or not, many of the top executives at large corporations and organizations including Capital One and Google take home a salary of only $1 per year, though clearly they deserve much, much more. It may all sound noble, taking $1 annually in what would appear to be a commitment to not milk the company dry, and in fact it is. However, the CEOs receive alternative forms of compensation, such as stock options in the company, based upon their own performance and hence the performance of the company. Their year-end bonus usually comes out to be quite handsome indeed.

1. Terry Semel – CEO of Yahoo Until recently, he was the top-salaried CEO in the San Francisco Bay area, taking home a whopping $56.8 million per year, however beginning in 2008 his annual paycheck now amounts exactly $1. As published in documents made public by the US Securities Commission, for the next three years, he will be eligible to receive an annual bonus of up to one million shares, in addition to the option to purchase an extra six million shares at the fixed price of $31.59 each. This incentive for retention was approved by the board of directors of the company under its management compensation agreements.   2. Larry Page One of the original founders of Google, until 2005 he received market-competitive salaries however has since opted to turn down his formerly enormous pay package, receiving only $1 per year. Of course, he is compensated in the form of company shares.   3. Sergey Brin Also a founder of Google, after 2005 Brin decided to go the same route as his colleague and friend Larry Page. He now takes home a paltry $1 per year though that amount is fattened somewhat by shares in a little company that you might have heard of, Google.   4. Steve Jobs The CEO of Apple Inc., Jobs was the first CEO in the world to accept a $1 per year salary, setting the trend. He has been talking $1 as his annual salary for a number of years already, despite several other Apple executives still pulling in fat yearly paychecks. Jobs did receive, however, an outright compensation package of a million restricted shares in the company and is now the owner of approximately 1.2% of Apple’s outstanding shares.   5. Eric Schmidt Yet another Google boss who receives a salary of $1 per year. Just like Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Schmidt made the decision after 2005 to trade in the generous paychecks for a package of company stock, based upon the over all performance of Google on the market.   6. Vikram Pandit Vikram Pandit is the CEO of the world’s leading financial institution, Citibank. Stung by heavy criticism regarding the institutions use of bail-out money received from the Federal Reserve Bank, Pandit has vowed to take a salary of only $1 per year, with no additional bonuses, until the bank regains its former stability and returns to profitability.   7. James E. Rogers James E. Rogers, the CEO of Duke Energy Corporation, takes home only $1 per year despite over 20 years of experience as a CEO in the electric utility industry.   8. Richard Kinder He is the founder and CEO of Houston Energy Transportation Company as well as of Kinder Morgan Storage Company. Since founding his companies, Kinder has been taking a salary of only $1 per year, without any other form of bonus whatsoever. He has forgone all stock options and awards as well as use of corporate jets or chauffeured cars.   9. Richard D. Fairbank He is the CEO of Capital One Financial Corporation and is also receiving $1 per year as his salary but owns millions in company shares.   10. Jerrold Perenchio The CEO of Univision Communications has also opted to pull in only $1 per year, but again received other lucrative perks.

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