Exxon CEO gets $23.9m in 2008

New York - Exxon Mobil Corp., which set annual profit records in each of the last two years, rewarded its chief executive with a 10% raise that brought his total compensation to $23.9m in 2008, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing.

Chairperson and CEO Rex Tillerson, 57, received a salary of nearly $1.9m last year, up from $1.8m in 2007.

He also was granted a bonus of $4m in 2008, compared with $3.4m in 2007. Half of Tillerson's 2008 bonus was paid last year, and the remainder is scheduled to be paid in the next three years, depending on company earnings targets, Exxon officials said.

The bulk of Tillerson's pay came in restricted stock valued at $17.6m when it was awarded on November 25. He received stock valued at $16.1m in 2007.

Tillerson also received $446 826 in perks in 2008, up from $429,792 in 2007. The 2008 sum includes $122 182 for a home security system, $57 513 for a personal driver, $41 980 associated with his use of company aircraft and $34 060 for a car.

The Associated Press calculated Tillerson's pay according to a formula that is designed to isolate the value the company's board placed on his total compensation package during the last fiscal year.

The AP formula includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, posted record earnings in 2007 and 2008 as the energy appetites of China and India started to squeeze global supplies. Crude prices soared last year, rising above $147 a barrel as traders and energy experts warned that oil production would soon be overwhelmed by demand.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon reported a profit of $45.2bn for 2008. That broke the previous record of $40.6bn set in 2007.

- AP