What Do Rap Stars and C.E.O.'s Have in Common?

Rap stars aren't the only unfortunates being forced out of their Gulfstreams and Citations in this time of soaring fuel costs and a slumping economy. Corporate chieftains seem to be tightening their seatbelts, too.

Executives' personal use of corporate aircraft declined by 9.8 percent last year, Equilar, a Redwood City, California, compensation research company, concluded after reviewing filings by the 95 biggest publicly traded companies. It found that companies acknowledged giving chief executives a median of $109,743 worth of flight hours on corporate jets, down from about $121,600 in 2006.

At $600 an hour in operating costs, that translates into two fewer coast-to-coast flights each year.

And that's not all. Equilar found that companies said they had cut back on spending for C.E.O.'s personal financial planning services, parking, and car expenses. They cut back even more on corporate housing (down 33 percent) and club membership dues (down 64 percent).

The decline in perks may well be due to pressure from activist shareholders and the Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose executive perks in greater detail. The S.E.C. requires companies to list perks costing more than $10,000, down from $50,000 in the past.

Telling more could lead companies to explain more, Equilar research manager Alexander Cwirko-Godycki said. "So much attention is being paid to the perks that some companies have decided that it's easier just not to have them," he said.

So, with all the cutbacks in jet travel, car leasing, and financial advising, the total value of C.E.O. perks must have declined, right? Wrong.

The median value of all perks actually rose 6.5 percent last year, to $356,175. Why? Because more companies are reimbursing their executives for the taxes they pay on the perks they're keeping.

The median value of these reimbursements, called "gross ups," rose 44 percent in 2007, to $34,396. That includes grossing up C.E.O pay to cover income taxes on spousal travel, which Countrywide Financial founder Angelo Mozilo memorably defended to skeptical lawmakers at a congressional hearing earlier this year.

The only other perk that grew last year was personal and home security. Median value rose 14 percent, to $29,291, although fewer executives -- 47.4 percent, down from 53.8 percent -- received the perk.

(Leading the way was Michael S. Dell, who received more than $1 million in security benefits when he returned for a second stint as his company's C.E.O. in Round Rock, Texas.)

by Elizabeth Olson

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