Compared to the CEO, most company directors aren't paid that excessively. The fees are comfortable, but generally it's not excessive.
But a handful of companies are paying their outside directors more than $1 million a year. The Corporate Board Member magazine list includes western union, Hologic, Gilead Sciences, Google, First Community Bancorp, Conseco, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Apple.
Are company directors really worth that much moolah? Check out for example Crocs which has four of its nine directors on close to a total of close to $19 million a year. This from a footwear company whose stock has retreated more than 60 per cent since its November high of $75.21. Crocs shareholders might not be that impressed.
And can Citigroup's Roberto Ramirez justify his $2.9 million when the group last week reported an overall fourth quarter loss of $9.83 billion, along with a bigger-than-expected write down of $18.1 billion and a 40 percent cut in the company's dividend? Ramirez might be in the money, but not Citigroup investors who have seen the stock sliding since last October.
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