Are the multi-million-dollar paychecks of retail CEOs justified based on business reality? Are they a true reflection of the financial performance of the companies they run? Or are they inappropriate and deserving of regulatory or shareholder scrutiny? Compared to the financial services industry, retail CEOs are more modestly paid, if you call a range from $7 million to $20 million modest. This is the range of compensation for the top 10 highest paid CEOs in the annual RIS review of top CEO salaries.
In this report,
RIS evaluated a broad sample of publicly available salary records to identify the highest paid CEOs from JC Penney, Lowe's, CVS and Home Depot. Find out which retail CEOs earn the biggest paychecks.
This year's highest compensated retail CEOs were awarded between $7.8 million and $20.3 million, which was paid to the Ralph Lauren, CEO of Polo Ralph Lauren.
RIS calculated each CEO's total compensation as a combination of base pay plus added bonuses. Here are the highest paid retail CEOs:
1. Ralph Lauren
Chairman and CEO
Polo Ralph Lauren
Total Compensation: $20,303,522
2. Thomas M. Ryan
Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer
CVS Caremark
Total Compensation: $19,421,035
3. Michael S. Jeffries
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Abercrombie & Fitch
Total Compensation: $15,623,363
4. John J. Donahoe
President and Chief Executive Officer
eBay
Total Compensation: $13,190,170
5. Myron E. Ullman III.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
JC Penney
Total Compensation: $9,692,651
6. Paul Marciano
Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman
Guess
Total Compensation: $9,316,480
7. Andrea Jung
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Avon
Total Compensation: $8,900,350
8. Francis S. Blake
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Home Depot
Total Compensation: $8,584,167
9. Ronald L. Sargent
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Staples
Total Compensation: $8,377,420
10. Robert A. Niblock
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Lowe's
Total Compensation: $7,876,339
Executive Salary Shake-Up
Andrea Jung, chairman and CEO of Avon, faced a major pay cut this year after earning $8.9 million this year compared to the $13.7 million she made last year. Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO, faced a $3 million pay cut after making $5.4 million this year compared to the $8.7 million he made last year. Based on last year's salary, Lundgren would have made the list. Trudy Sullivan, president and CEO of Talbot's faced a more than million dollar salary cut and made $5.4 million this year compared to $6.9 million she earned last year.
Although Katherine L. Krill, CEO, president and director of Ann Taylor Stores, had a pay increase this year, earning $7.8 million compared to the $6.9 million she made last year, she does not make the top 10 list. Carol M. Meyrowitz, CEO of TJX had a major pay increase, earning more than $1 million than she did last year. Meyrowitz's salary was $7 million this year compared to the $5.7 million she earned last year.
Surprisingly, Gregg W. Steinhafel, chairman, president and CEO of Target, one of the most well-known and successful retailers in the U.S., experienced a pay cut and earned $5.5 million as opposed to the $6 million he made last year.
To develop this list of Highest Paid Retail CEOs, RIS researched the latest financial figures posted for CEOs of large publicly traded companies. The numbers are based on the Proxy Statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2009. It is likely some private retail companies have highly paid CEOs, but public records of these companies are not available for review.
For more information on top paid retail executives see:
Top 10 Highest Paid Retail CEOs