Little changes in state CEOs’ pay rankings

The rankings of the highest-paid chief executive officers of Oklahoma’s publicly traded companies are little-changed from last year.

Again topping the rankings was Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s Aubrey McClendon, with a total compensation of $112.5 million.

Tom Ward, chairman and chief executive officer of SandRidge Energy, again earned the second-highest compensation at $19.2 million.

Larry Nichols, chairman and chief executive officer of Devon Energy Corp., ranked third among Oklahoma-based CEOs. Nichols earned $16.7 million last year in salary, bonus, stock and option grants and other com- pensation.

Steven Malcolm, chief executive officer of Tulsa- based Wil- liams Cos. Inc., ranked fourth Â Â Â among state-based CEOs with a pay package of $8.1 million. Malcolm moved up one spot from last year’s ranking.

ONEOK Inc.’s CEO, John Gibson, rounded out the top five with total 2008 compensation of $4.4 million. That’s down one spot from his ranking last year.

Stock swoons affect pay

The stock market has affected the compensation of many of the CEOs, as plummeting stock values have slashed the value of stock and options granted to the executives.

Companies must report a "fair value” of stock and options granted to executives at the time the grant is made. The Oklahoman uses that figure as part of each executive’s total compensation.

However, the sharp decline in stock values since many of those grants were made has eaten away at the value of those granted shares and options.

For instance, SandRidge granted Ward 136,364 shares of company stock on July 11 when the stock was worth $61.46. That added $8.4 million to Ward’s 2008 compensation. But last week, SandRidge stock was trading for only about $10.50.

Even among companies that paid chief executive officers less, shareholder discontent over plummeting stock prices and multimillion-dollar executive compensation packages exists, said Chris Crawford, executive director of Longnecker & Associates, a Houston-based executive compensation consultant company.

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