Forbes doesn’t even have to make the point explicit. The numbers speak for themselves:
If you caught Nell Minow’s musings on Forbes Radio as to why CEOs are paid so much money, Pfizer (nyse: PFE – news – people ) Chief Executive Henry McKinnell’s 72% pay increase last year may not leave you overly flummoxed. McKinnell’s impressive haul of $16.6 million was made up of a base salary of $2.2 million, a healthy bonus of $3.9 million, plus a restricted stock award of $4.3 million. Sharp-minded number-jugglers will notice that these figures don’t quite $16.6 million make. Well, throw in $5.81 million in common stock as part of an incentive program, and $307,454 in retirement savings, and all becomes clear. McKinnell’s 2004 salary dwarfs his 2003 earnings of $9.7 million. With seemingly bathetic timing, the New York-based pharmaceutical manufacturer will hold an analysts meeting next month to discuss how to reduce costs by $2 billion, as many of the company’s major drugs are losing patent protection over the next few years.
– Art Caplan