Reuters is reporting that while Ford Motor Co. posted a $12.7 billion loss last year, its new Chief Executive earned $28.18 million. And that was for four months worth of work. Alan Mulally's pay for 2006 included salary and stock options, as well as an $18.5 million bonus. The man Mulally replaced, Chairman Bill Ford, had made good on his pledge to forego compensation until the company made a turnaround, and had no salary, bonuses, or stock earnings during the first 8 months of 2006. In the grand scheme of things, $28 million is a drop in the bucket compared to the huge corporate losses Ford has posted, but hopefully Ford is getting what they are paying for with their new CEO. Only time will tell, as the automaker isn't expected to get back into the black until 2009 at the earliest.

In all fairness, Mulally's package included a $7.5 million signing bonus and Ford had to pay an additional $11 million to compensate for getting him out of his Boeing contract early. And in case some think Ford would be smart to dump him and take the company in a different direction, the EXIT package would be almost as big. If the CEO is released during his first five years on the job, his exit package is valued at $27.54 million. Mulally gets that amount if he is let go for anything other than cause. That includes being let go due to a merger or bankruptcy filing. To put it in perspective, Ford President of the Americas Mark Fields made $5.57 million last year. That included a salary of $1.25 million and something related to using a jet. And CFO Don Leclair had $4.4 million in total compensation for 2006.

__________________

Now that is a lot of cash :eek: