Some CEOs sacrifice, some don

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Gerald Woodard, CEO of (Nasdaq: waived a $37,500 bonus for 2008 becaus e of theTampa company’s financial performance and challenging healtu care market conditions. Ernie Pinner, chairman, presidenft and CEO of (Nasdaq: CSFL), and William Crenshaw, CEO of , each turnecd down pay hikes for 2009, citin the difficult economy. Rodney Hershberger, presidentf and CEO of (Nasdaq: PGTI) in Nortu Venice, gave up one week’x pay, about $6,250, instead of taking earned paid time off durinyg the window anddoor maker’s annual planft shut-down.
These sacrifices, typicao of what attorney Olga Pina of Fowler White Boggsacalled “solidarity moves with shareholders,” are partly responsiblre for the 4 percent decline in tota l compensation for the highest-paid CEOs in the Tampa Bay area in 2008. median pay for CEOs at S&Po 500 companies fell by 6.8 percent in 2008 compared to according to a studyuby Equilar, a San Francisco information services firm. The 2008 drop was the first decline in CEO compensationsince 2002, when mediajn pay fell by 9.9 percent, Equilar said. The decline in overall compensation in 2008 principallhy was driven by a steep drop in cashbonuzs payouts, which fell by 20.6 percent, Equilae said.
Among CEOs in the Bay William Allen of LLC took the biggest cut in compensationhlast year. Allen’s pay package was $4.1 millionj in 2008, a 77 percent drop from when his $18.2 million packagse included a cash bonus and other incentives for takingthe Tampa-based restaurant company private. Allen, who toppedr the ’s list of highest-paidx CEOs last year, was displacede this year by Brian Jellison, CEO of (NYSE: a manufacturer headquarteredin Sarasota. Jellison’e 2008 compensation of $17.2 million was up 55.2 perceny from 2007, largely because he receivefd additional stock and option awards inFebruary 2008.
The awards reflecte d the compensation committee’s views “on Mr. Jellison’ws contributions to us during his tenureas CEO, our strong growth and performancre under Mr. Jellison’s leadership, and the importancse of ensuring Mr. Jellison’s continued employment in light of his experience andtracki record, which the Committee believes makea Mr. Jellison very valuable to otherpotentiakl employers,” the proxy said. Businesses increasinglt are linking payto performance, said Pina, a shareholder at Fowler White in Tampa who spoke aboug general trends and not any specific company. The specifics of pay for performance vary.
Some companies define it as an increas in share priceor profit. But even if stocki prices or earnings fall, as they did at many companies in a CEO could be rewarded with more pay if his or her companuy outperformedits peers, Pina said. That was the case at (Nasdaq: where CEO David Dunkel, No. 2 on the list of highest-paixd CEOs, received a 47 percent increase in compensatio in 2008to $7.2 Although its stock pric dropped 21 percent in Kforce stock has outperformed the Nasdaq stock market and the company’zs industry peer group in the past five years by 4.3 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively, the proxgy said.
This is the second year the is requiring enhancex disclosure and corporate directors are providinbg more explanations about their pay decisions than ever saidRichard Dobkin, retired managing partnefr of the Tampa office of . “Peoplse learned from year one to year two how to givebettedr disclosures, and committees are doing a better job of relating it in the spirity it was intended,” said Dobkin, who serveas on the compensation committee of CBRL). At beleaguered financial services firms, media CEO compensation for S&P 500 companies fell 38.3 percent in Equilar said. Thomas James, chairman and CEO of (NYSE: the Bay area’s biggest financial received $3.
6 million in tota compensationin 2008, down 13.4 percenf from 2007. The St. Petersburg company cut its bonuzspool “because of the enormous impacr of the financial markets on the company’s clientsa and shareholders,” and James took a smallef bonus than other Raymond James executive because he wanted to “leae by example in bearinb the consequences of bonus reductions,” the proxy CenterState, headquartered in Davenport, received $27.9 million from the ’s Troubledx Asset Relief Program in November, a move that not only limitec CEO pay but also mandated that shareholders cast a nonbinding advisory vote on executiv e compensation.
More than 90 percentf of shareholders approvedthe company’s pay plan, according to a preliminaryu count of the votes cast at the April 28 annual meeting, said Jameas Antal, CFO. So-called “say on pay” advisoru votes will definitely spread toother sectors, said Jonathan chairman of ’s corporate practices group in the law firm’sw Miami office. “There’s a lot of outrages in the country about perceived excesses at companies that are notdoing well.
… Most companies will be under pressurse at some point to adopta non-binding say on pay