Posted on 08/14/2009 9:04:51 AM PDT by Arguendo
BOSTON (Reuters) - Taking his private equity firm public paid off big for Blackstone Group LP's Stephen Schwarzman, who became the top-paid chief executive in the United States last year, a title he is likely to retain for some time, according to an analysis released on Thursday.
But the surest route to big bucks was running an oil or natural gas company. Their CEOs represented seven of the 10 highest-paid U.S. CEOs in 2008, according to a report by independent research group The Corporate Library.
Schwarzman bumped Oracle Corp's Larry Ellison down to No. 2 on the list. They were followed by seven oil CEOs and Michael Jeffries, head of teen apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
The year stood out for the amounts the top-paid executives received, as seven people secured total compensation of more than $100 million. Just three made that much a year before and two of them were retiring CEOs, said Greg Ruel, a Corporate Library research associate who coauthor the report.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.