Looking Out for No. 1

Once upon a time—that would be 2005—fewer than one in three Fortune 100 companies acknowledged having picked up the tab for its chief executives' tax- and financial-planning advice.

In 2006, almost three-fourths of the country's 100 biggest companies said it had done so, according to a new study from Equilar, an independent executive-compensation research firm in California.

How to account for the sharp increase? A sudden burst of generosity on the part of corporate boards? Sadly, no. The difference, it seems, are new disclosure rules issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The new rules, which the S.E.C. adopted over the howls of some corporate leaders, ask companies to be more forthcoming about the perquisites they provide to their already amply rewarded executives.

Among other nuggets Equilar dug out of the expanded disclosure this year:

The median value of the financial planning services provided gratis to Fortune 100 C.E.O.'s increased by 16.0 percent from 2005 to 2006, rising to $17,156 from $14,784.

Someone being paid $10.1 million a year—the median C.E.O. pay last year, Equilar says (subscription required)—might think $17,000 is a trifle not worth mentioning. But it was enough to lift a family of three above the official poverty level in 2006.

It's worth noting that four Fortune 100 companies indicated that they had stopped providing financial planning services to their executive officers this year.

Don't take that to mean companies aren't looking out for their best-paid workers. Equilar found that more than three-fourths of Fortune 100 companies have change-in-control arrangements with their executives. These contracts require the companies to hand over a large chunk of money to some employees—generally C.E.O.'s and other "C-level" executives—if the companies agree to merge with or be acquired by another company. Some payouts are triggered only if the named executives lose their jobs shortly after the company is sold.

Among the Fortune 100 C.E.O.'s with change-in-control agreements, Equilar found that almost 9 in 10 of them require companies to hand over all stock-based incentive awards, regardless of when they were scheduled to take effect or whether the goals have been achieved.

At the same time, about 80 percent of these contracts require companies to make good on all stock-option awards, again regardless of when they were scheduled to take effect or whether the performance goals have been achieved.

No wonder so many C.E.O.'s also need that free advice on how to minimize their taxes and properly invest their windfalls.

by Mark Stein