Highest-Paid Tech CEOs

Yes, HP's Mark Hurd is on the list. Last year was a tough one for the economy, but many technology and telecommunications chiefs still raked in huge bucks. The Wall Street Journal recently published its 2009 CEO Compensation Study, which was conducted by management consulting firm Hay Group. The study looks at total pay for chief executives in 2009 from companies of at least $4 billion in revenue and filed proxy statements between October 2009 and Sept. 30, 2010. Last year’s top tech earner was IBM CEO Sam Palmisano, who brought in a grand total of $20 million. Seven other technology and telecommunications honchos brought in more than $10 million. Among some notable absences from the list was probably the most visible—or hyped—tech CEO, Apple’s Steve Jobs. (Like many corporate chiefs, Jobs took no salary in 2009.) The Journal study took into account several different factors in computing overall compensation, most notably salary, incentives, stock option grants and restricted stock grants. It also looked at pension values, deferred compensation earnings, tax changes and payments to defined-contribution plans.