No Recession in Compensation for Chief Executives, Forbes Reports

The recession didn’t hit home for chief executives of big American corporations, who got even richer in 1991, according to Forbes Magazine.

In its annual report on the “Forbes 800,” the CEOs of American’s biggest companies, the magazine found that 407 of them made $1 million or more in total compensation last year. By comparison, 386 exceeded the $1 million level a year earlier.

The top five executives in total pay for 1991 are Anthony J. F. O’Reilly of HJ Heinz, at $75.1 million; Martin J. Wygod of Medco Containment, at $34.6 million; Leon C. Hirsch of US Surgical, at $23.3 million; John C. Malone of Tele-Communications, at $18.9 million; and Richard K. Eamer of National Medical, at $17.5 million.

The pattern of executives getting richer is nothing new. Forbes points out that over the past five years, the 25 highest-paid executives received a total of $1.1 billion in compensation.