Spotlight: Hesse tops CEO pay heap

Earlier this year, we followed news of what various service provider CEOs were paid during 2007, and with rare exceptions, readers almost always felt the figures reported were too high. Now comes word that Dan Hesse, who was hired as CEO of success-challenged Sprint Nextel last December, is the highest paid CEO in the industry, according to how the Associated Press calculates such things. The AP reports that Hesse is making $28.3 million this year, though the figure includes bonus and option money tied to his hiring. Considering the challenge he took on, is that figure much of a surprise?

For more:
- see this Associated Press report [1] at Yahoo! Finance

Related articles:
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson took home $18 million last year AT&T report [2]
Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg was paid just over $20 million Verizon report [3]