Compensation

Median pay for chief executives of the biggest U.S. companies slipped 4.6% last year, but the link between annual compensation and shareholder returns remained weak.

Director pay has received scant attention over the years as investors, regulators and the public have focused on soaring executive compensation. 

The Swiss have spoken. Now the lawyers are trying to make sense of it all.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Alan Mulally has been very good for Ford Motor Co. And in return, Ford has been very, very good for Mulally.

In just over six years, the Ford CEO has amassed holdings valued at more than $300 million.

The best thing about an employee-stock-ownership plan is that it gives workers a stake in their company's future. Which is also, of course, the worst thing about it.

When Samuel J. Palmisano retires next month, he'll enjoy a generous goodbye present: The former International Business Machines Corp. chief will earn $20,000 for any day he spends four hours advising his longtime employer.

Vikram S. Pandit worked as Citigroup‘s chief executive for just under five years. But during that time, he earned a good deal less than what other Wall Street chieftains made.

There are a number of ways to look at Mr. Pandit’s compensation from 2007 through 2011, according to an analysis that the research firm Equilar performed for DealBook.

Weeks before Vikram S. Pandit’s surprise resignation on Tuesday as chief executive of Citigroup, the banking giant’s powerful chairman, Michael E. O’Neill, was privately huddling with other board members to plan how to replace him, according to several people briefed on the talks.

Last year, John R. Stafford, chairman of pharmaceutical giant Wyeth, earned $1.8 million in salary. He also was awarded a $1.97 million bonus, restricted stock valued at $724,283 and 630,000 stock options.

That much shareholders can learn from glancing at the company's proxy.