Richard Clark - Merck

Total Compensation: $14.5M

2007 Revenue: $24.2B
2006 Revenue: $22.6B
Change: 7%

Details: 2007 was a great year for Merck, with the company making significant progress on the five year turnaround plan enacted after the Vioxx scandal. The company's good fortunes led to an 80 percent hike in compensation for CEO Richard Clark. It included $1.62 million in base pay, 37 percent more than 2006 levels, and $8.23 million in stock and options grants. In addition, Clark got $4.31 million in incentive pay, plus about $360,000 worth of miscellaneous items like retirement-plan matching funds ($10,125), a home security system ($51,024), and commuting costs ($18,686).

Merck News:
Merck chief got 80% pay hike [1]
Analysts cheer signs of turnaround at Merck [2]
Merck touts reorganization effort [3]
Fortune scolds Merck for "risky" programs [4]
Merck presents pipeline update to analysts [5]