Much was written about Lee Raymond, the former CEO of Exxon, when he took a $400 million paycheck. Exxon's largesse to Raymond was astonishing, especially when you consider that Exxon/Mobil has not paid damages to the fishermen who were bankrupted by the Valdez disaster, or that Exxon/Mobil has underfunded the pensions of its workers by an estimated $11 billion.

But now, Occidental Petroleum's CEO, 72-year old Ray Irani, has announced that he is also getting a paycheck in excess of $400 million (see story below). We're guessing that Irani felt he had to "Keep up with the Joneses."

While this may seem like an unusually large paycheck, the reality is that payscale-wise, at $400 million, Irani and Raymond are relative bottomfeeders when you compare their pay the the big dogs in the digital industry. Namely, Oracle Corporation's CEO Larry Ellison, who in 2001, took home a $706 million paycheck, or Michael Eisner of Walt Disney, who received $570 million in 1998. And let's not forget Bill Gates, whose net worth is now ranked at $46.5 billion. With numbers like that, and one foot in the grave at age 72, Irani must feel just horrible.

For those of you who feel sorry for Mr. Irani, you can e-mail your condolences in care of Occidental's media relations manager richard_kline [at] oxy [dot] com. Tell 'em UCAN sent you.

Occidental CEO got more than $400 million in 2006
Reuters
Sunday, April 8, 2007; 4:11 PM (read the original story as it appeared in the Washington Post).

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Occidental Petroleum Corp.'s (OXY.N) chairman and chief executive took in more than $400 million in compensation last year, the company said in a filing, one of the biggest single-year payouts in U.S. corporate history.

The largest part of Ray Irani's 2006 payout was $270.2 million from the exercise of options awarded from 1997 to 2006, representing more than 7.1 million shares, according to the company's annual proxy statement, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in March.

Irani also received $93.3 million in stock and dividends from a deferred stock program when the company closed the plan in October due to increases in liability and expenses for the program, the company said.

Irani's salary in 2006 was $1.3 million and his cash bonus was $1.4 million, according to the filing. But stock and option awards and other benefits lifted his 2006 compensation to $55.6 million, the proxy said.

In the proxy, the company said that from December 1990 -- when Irani succeeded Armand Hammer as chief executive -- through 2005, the company's stock rose to about $40 a share from $9 and its total shareholder return was 699 percent.

"When you look at this, this is solid pay for performance," said Richard Kline, an Occidental spokesman. "It serves the best interest of the corporation and the best interest of the shareholder."

Occidental shares closed on Thursday at $49.95 on the New York Stock Exchange.

According to the Wall Street Journal, only a few CEOs have ever made more money in one year. In 2001, Oracle Corp. (ORCL.O) CEO Larry Ellison received $706 million from exercising stock options and in 1998, former Walt Disney Co. (DIS.N) CEO Michael Eisner received $570 million, according to the newspaper.