The US’s top general counsel are widening the pay gap between themselves and their European counterparts, according to new research that shows soaring bonuses and stock awards driving remuneration for chief legal officers at US bluechips.
The results, which are part of Corporate Counsel magazine’s annual general counsel (GC) compensation survey, show that the average basic wage for the 100 best-paid US GCs was just over $567,000 (£285,000) in 2007.
But while average salaries have been relatively static, bonuses and non-equity compensation have continued to surge to reach an average of $1.1m (£550,000), a 17% rise on the previous year.
The figures underline the dramatic rises in non-salaried compensation for top GCs in the
The value of bonuses across the top 100
salaries across the group have remained comparatively static, rising by just $64,000 (£32,000) over the same period.
In many cases bonus awards dwarf basic salaries, with Morgan Stanley general counsel Gary Lynch receiving a $6.3m (£3.15m) bonus in 2007 on top of a basic salary of $300,000 (£150,000).
In addition to the rise in non-stock bonuses, there has also been a growing trend in the amount of GCs handed outright stock grants.
According to Corporate Counsel, the average stock award in 2007 was in excess of $1.3m (£700,000), more than $200,000 (£100,000) up on the previous year.
Counting total cash compensation, the figures show a handful of top GCs earning multimillion-dollar packages with three — Morgan Stanley’s Lynch, Allegheny Technologies’ Jon Walton, and Lehman Brothers’ Thomas Russo — each earning upwards of $5m (£2.5m).
Lucrative share-based awards in some cases sent the value of GC pay soaring, with MGM Mirage’s Gary Jacobs’ total compensation calculated at $22m (£11m) after valuing stock options.
The findings, which confirm that compensation for top GCs has more than kept pace with soaring profits at
In-house lawyers in
Managing director of recruitment consultancy Laurence Simons, Naveen Tuli (pictured), said: “There is certainly a focus on bonus and stock in the
“Large bonuses are a part of the US GCs’ psyche and the structure of their compensation reflects that. In many ways it is more important than the actual salary.”
Attention will now be focused on how the
