Top-Dollar Jobs

Executive pay and perks

Who earned what last year? Jimmy Carter, President of the U.S.: $200,000. Nolan Ryan, pitcher for the Houston Astros: $1 million. Lane Kirkland, president of the AFL-CIO: $98,000. Barbara Walters, TV interviewer: $1 million. Judith Krantz, author of Princess Daisy: about $2.2 million. Frank Rosenfelt, president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the nation's best paid businessman: $5.1 million

Everyone knows that a million is not what it used to be, yet the ranks of well-paid entertainers, sportsmen and businessmen are growing. The exclusive club of executives earning more than $1 million grew from only four members in 1977 to 13 in 1978 and to 33 last year, according to the compensation consulting firm Sibson & Co. While major union wage settlements averaged an 8.8% increase, the pay of top executives climbed 15%.

Most of these top earners worked in industries that did well despite the worsening economy, particularly in entertainment, energy and aerospace. MGM, where earnings rose 25% thanks in part to hotel and casino revenues and the profitable licensing of TV rights to Gone With the Wind, boasted two officers in the top 15 in addition to Rosenfelt: Executive Vice President Barrie Brunei ($2.5 million) and Board Director James Aljian ($1.8 million). Two of Mobil Corp.'s top executives were also in the millionaires' club: Chairman Rawleigh Warner Jr. ($4.3 million) and President William Tavoulareas ($2.3 million). The fourth top earner was Richard Vieser, executive vice president of the electrical equipment manufacturer McGraw-Edison ($2.6 million).

Only a few of the top moneymakers, such as Steven Ross, chairman of Warner Communications ($3.9 million), won their seven-figure pay packets solely through salaries and bonuses. Lee Iaccoca, chairman of Chrysler ($1.3 million), qualified for the group by the $1 million he got from the ailing automaker to compensate for the severance pay he lost upon leaving Ford. Most earned their keep by hitching their fortunes to their companies' performances on Wall Street and cashing in on previously granted stock options. For many of the $1 million earners, stock-related income accounted for more than half of the total compensation.

With taxes taking a bite out of even the biggest paychecks, more and more companies are offering plush perks to executives in lieu of hard cash. A new generation of status symbols is growing up to replace the old ones, which tended to be corner offices or "a Bigelow on the floor."

Among the most popular for this age of anxiety is protection from financial and physical danger. For financial security, many firms provide expensive investment counseling to help executives find tax shelters. At the Manhattan law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, one partner spends his entire time investing and sheltering his colleagues' earnings.

Physical protection is now another, necessary, status symbol. Sperry Rand hired a retired FBI agent to travel overseas to check security arrangements for executives. High executives at Atlantic Richfield, Standard Oil of California and other oil companies typically move from office to limousine to private jet accompanied by bodyguards.

Corporations, however, have a host of signs to separate the wheat from the chaff among those climbing the corporate ladder. Bank of America employees, for example, know that they have made it when they are given stationery with the bank's logo in gold rather than black ink. One of the most elaborate status classifications is at Ford, where employees are graded on a scale of 1 (clerks and secretaries) to 27 (chairman of the board). Grade 9, the lowest level of executive, carries the right to an outside parking place, while Grade 13 brings a larger office, windows, plants, an intercom system and a secretary. Grade 16ers get an office with a private lavatory, signed Christmas cards from the chairman, an indoor parking space and their company cars washed and gassed on request.

The newest power perk is to do away with an old status symbol, the Mussolini-size desk. Now the office at the top should not even look like an office but resemble a living room, complete with coffee tables, comfortable sofas and original art on the walls. Brandon Stoddard, president of ABC Motion Pictures, works behind a big marble table, while Designer Calvin Klein works in the modern mode of couches and comfort. Explains Office Designer Charles Winecoff: "Executives are getting away from the idea of a big, formal desk because most of their business really is conversation." For many businessmen, less can mean more. qed

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