AT&T CEO collects $18 million in pay, perks

AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson earned about $18 million last year-about $1.2 million in salary and the rest in performance-based bonuses and stock awards, according to BusinessWeek, which does not rely on company figures and uses its own methods to calculate such things. The non-salary compensation included more than $89,000 worth of personal use of a company plane, more than $15,000 for a home security system and more than $10,000 for a club membership. No one seems to care so far, but those figures might raise eyebrows if the employer were a company other than AT&T. For example, Qwest Communications CEO Ed Mueller was lambasted by some company watchers for a perk that allowed his family to use the corporate jet.

AT&T had a very good year in 2007, rolling out U-verse rapidly, while posting impressive customer and financial numbers. Of course, Stephenson was only in charge for about seven months of 2007. More recently, AT&T has reported seeing some market softness. Do any of these perks seem out of whack, or do they seem perfectly in line with the stature of the job? Post a comment and let us know what you think.

For more:
- read this story at BusinessWeek

Related articles:
- The jet flap landed Ed Mueller in controversy not long after he took over Qwest