CEOs of Lockheed Martin, United Therapeutics top list of highest-paid executives

Washington Business Journal - by Tierney Plumb Staff Reporter

The chief executive of a local biotech was
the second highest-paid CEO of a public company in the D.C. area,
according to research compiled by the Washington Business Journal.

Martine Rothblatt, CEO of Silver Spring-based United Therapeutics Corp.,
jumped 19 spots on this year’s list of highest paid CEOs (published in
Friday’s edition of the Washington Business Journal). Rothblatt’s total
compensation, which quadrupled in 2007 over the previous year, was $25
million -- $23.8 million of that came from stock option awards.

Total compensation included salary, bonus, stock awards, option awards and other compensation.

At the top of the list this year was Robert Stevens, CEO of Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin Corp.
(NYSE: LMT) with a compensation package worth $31 million. More than a
quarter of that came from performance-based compensation -- also known
as “non-equity incentive plan compensation.” Stevens was No. 4 on the
list last year.

“The goal is if the company does better, the executive does better.
It’s purely a way to tie someone’s compensation to the results,” said
John Owen, regional vice president at Robert Half International.

The percentage of executives with performance-based plans has
increased from 30 percent in 1976 to 50 percent in 2008, said Owen.

That trend is quieting the age-old complaint of execs getting
compensation in the form of bonuses -- even when the company’s stock
plummets.

“These days you won’t see it,” said Owen. “Executives will earn what they are entitled to.”

Daniel Mudd, CEO of Fannie Mae
(NYSE: FNM), was No. 9 on the list this year with $11.7 million in
compensation, with a bulk of it ($6.8 million) coming from stock awards
in 2007.

“The fair market value of companies in the D.C. area has gone down
this year. Ultimately, their realizable compensation will be down,”
said Chris Hamilton, senior executive compensation consultant at Watson Wyatt Worldwide’s
Arlington office. “Three or four years prior to this year, most
companies had fantastic performance and realizable pay was higher than
opportunity pay. I think that will be the opposite this year and into
other years,”

Richard Fairbank, head of McLean-based Capital One Financial Corp.
(NYSE: COF), slid from the top seat last year to No. 4, making $20.4
million in 2007. He was the only chief executive on the list whose
stock awards fell to the red, totaling a loss of $6.4 million.

Dennis Wraase, CEO of D.C.-based Pepco Holdings Inc.
(NYSE: POM), narrowly made the top 10 this year, improving his rank
from No. 24 to No. 10 from nearly doubling his total pay to $8.4
million. He made $4.7 million solely off of changes in pension value.