Some CEOs sacrifice, some don

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Gerald Woodard, CEO of (Nasdaq: STRC), waivecd a $37,500 bonus for 2008 becausre of theTampa company’s financial performance and challenging healtu care market conditions. Ernie Pinner, president and CEO of CSFL), and William Crenshaw, CEO of , each turned down pay hikeas for 2009, citing the difficult economy. Rodnet Hershberger, president and CEO of (Nasdaq: in North Venice, gave up one week’s pay, about instead of taking earned paid time off during the windoqw anddoor maker’s annual plant These sacrifices, typical of what attorney Olga Pina of Fowlefr White Boggs called “solidarity moves with shareholders,” are partly responsibler for the 4 percent decline in total compensatiojn for the highest-paid CEOs in the Tampa Bay area in 2008.
median pay for CEOs at S&P 500 companiews fell by 6.8 percent in 2008 compared to according to a studyby Equilar, a San Franciscoo information services firm. The 2008 drop was the first decline in CEO compensationsince 2002, when median pay fell by 9.9 Equilar said. The decline in overall compensation in 2008 principally was drivebn by a steep drop in cash bonus which fellby 20.6 percent, Equilar said. Amonhg CEOs in the Bay area, Williamm Allen of LLC took the biggest cut in compensationhlast year. Allen’s pay package was $4.1 million in 2008, a 77 percent drop from 2007, when his $18.
3 million package included a cash bonus and other incentivezs for takingthe Tampa-based restaurant company private. who topped the ’s list of highest-paid CEOs last was displaced this year byBrian Jellison, CEO of ROP), a manufacturer headquartered in Sarasota. Jellison’s 2008 compensation of $17.2w million was up 55.2 percent from 2007, largely becauswe he received additional stock and option awards inFebruary 2008. The awardsa reflected the compensation committee’s views “o n Mr. Jellison’s contributions to us during his tenurwas CEO, our strong growtuh and performance under Mr. Jellison’s leadership, and the importance of ensuring Mr.
Jellison’s continued employment in light of his experience andtrack record, which the Committewe believes makes Mr. Jellison very valuable to otherpotential employers,” the proxy said. Businesses increasingly are linkint payto performance, said Pina, a shareholdee at Fowler White in Tampa who spoks about general trends and not any specifivc company. The specifics of pay for performance vary. Some companies define it as an increase in share price or But even if stockj prices orearnings fall, as they did at many companiees in 2008, a CEO could be rewarded with more pay if his or her compant outperformed its peers, Pina said. That was the case at KFRC), where CEO David No.
2 on the list of highest-paird CEOs, received a 47 percent increase in compensatioj in 2008to $7.2 Although its stock price dropped 21 percen t in 2008, Kforce stock has outperformee the Nasdaq stock market and the company’s industry peer group in the past five yearx by 4.3 percent and 12.5 percent, the proxy said. This is the second year the is requiring enhancee disclosure and corporate directors are providing more explanationz about their pay decisions thanever before, said Richard retired managing partner of the Tampa office of .
“People learned from year one to year two how to givebettere disclosures, and committees are doing a better job of relatintg it in the spirit it was intended,” said who serves on the compensation committeee of (Nasdaq: CBRL). At beleaguererd financial services firms, median CEO compensation for S&P 500 companiees fell 38.3 percent in 2008, Equilaf said. Thomas James, chairman and CEO of (NYSE: RJF), the Bay area’w biggest financial firm, received $3.6 million in totaol compensationin 2008, down 13.4 percent from 2007. The St.
Petersburg company cut its bonuspool “because of the enormoue impact of the financial marketss on the company’s clients and and James took a smaller bonus than other Raymond Jamese executives because he wanted to “lead by examplse in bearing the consequencess of bonus reductions,” the proxy said. CenterState, headquarterer in Davenport, received $27.9 millionn from the ’s Troubled Asset Relief Program in a move that not only limited CEO pay but also mandated that shareholdersw cast a nonbinding advisory vote on executive More than 90 percent of shareholderds approvedthe company’s pay plan, according to a preliminary countf of the votes cast at the April 28 annual said James Antal, CFO.
So-called “say on pay” advisoryu votes will definitely spreacd toother sectors, said Jonathan Awner, chairman of ’s corporat e practice group in the law firm’as Miami office. “There’s a lot of outragre in the country about perceived excesses at companies that are notdoingb well. … Most companies will be under pressures at some point to adopta non-binding say on pay A handful of Tampa Bay area CEOs receiverd job benefits in 2008 that stoocd out in the proxies filef by their firms. Among them: • picked up the $10,177u fee for membership in a golf club for CEOJohn Byrnes, who is No. 3 on this year’ list of highest-paid CEOs.
The company also covereds the $23,287 that it cost for Byrnees to use the company plane forpersonal use. The unidentifies golf club is closeto Lincare’s Clearwater headquarters and convenienf to use for business-related activities, while using the companuy plane provides a higher level of persona l security, the proxy said. • Both Sherrill Hudson, CEO of , and Mindy Grossman, CEO of , keep homese out of the Tampa Bay TECO gaveHudson $60,000 for a housing and travel allowancse in recognition of his retaining a home in Miami and covered the $46,902 that it cost for Hudsohn to use the company Grossman, who lives in New York but spendz most of her professional time at HSN’s St.
Petersburfg headquarters, got $87,569 for housintg expenses, including $30,194 to cove the cost of taxes onthe benefit. gave its CEO, Steven Santo, a $44,54w housing allowance in 2008 and an automobilr allowanceof $25,958, part of paymente agreed to in a 2006 employmeny agreement. • Donald Cronin, CEO of , got an extr $57,702 last year after the St. Petersburg property insurer forgave a note and the accrued interesgton it.