Viacom’s Dauman Highest-Paid CEO as Pay Gains, N.Y. Times Says

Viacom Inc. (VIA/B)’s Philippe Dauman was the highest-paid chief executive officer in the U.S. last year as compensation overall gained for the first time in two years, the New York Times reported.

Dauman received $84.5 million, with Viacom telling the newspaper the amount was inflated by one-time stock awards linked to a long-term contract. The compensation was for nine months, the newspaper said, after Viacom changed its fiscal year. Ray Irani, chief executive of Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY), was second with $76.1 million, the Times said.

The median total compensation for U.S. executives gained 12 percent to $9.6 million, while the average was up 20 percent, the newspaper said, citing the survey by executive compensation tracker Equilar.

Larry Ellison, Oracle Corp. (ORCL)’s chief executive who was No. 1 in the survey last year, was third this year with $70.1 million, followed by DirecTV (DTV) Chief Executive Michael White, who received $32.9 million, the Times said. John Lundgren, chief executive of Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (SWK), was paid $32.6 million and was fifth, the newspaper said.

Rounding out the top 10 in sixth through 10th place, respectively, were: Brian Roberts, Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), $28.2 million; Robert Iger, Walt Disney Co. (DIS), $28 million; Alan Mulally, Ford Motor Co. (F), $26.5 million; Samuel Palmisano, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), $25.2 million; and David Farr, Emerson Electric Co. (EMR), $22.9 million, the Times said.

Equilar’s study for the newspaper covered 199 public companies with annual revenue of at least $7 billion that filed annual proxy statements by April 1, the Times said. The newspaper said this list isn’t definitive because some companies, including Morgan Stanley (MS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), had yet to file their executive pay data.

Total compensation is comprised of an executive’s base salary, grant-date value of stock and option awards, discretionary and performance-based cash bonuses, and other compensation, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Hart in Washington at dahart@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sylvia Wier at swier@bloomberg.net.