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AFP, 27 July 2010
Oracle's Ellison highest paid CEO of the decade

WASHINGTON (AFP) - - Oracle Corporation founder and chief executive Larry Ellison topped the list of best-paid executives of the decade with 1.84 billion dollars, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The 65-year-old software pioneer, who founded Oracle in 1977, beat Internet tycoon Barry Diller into second place on just over one billion dollars.

Ellison has a 23 percent stake in the company, the Journal reported in Monday's editions.

In the 10 years ended May 31, 2009, the most recent fiscal year for which Oracle has disclosed pay data, its market capitalization nearly tripled, to 98 billion dollars, up from 36 billion, and has risen even more since, it said.

In second place on the compensation list was Diller, who received some 1.14 billion dollars from IAC/Interactive and Expedia Inc, the online travel site IAC spun off in 2005, where he remains chairman.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. CEO Ray Irani came in third place, with 857 million dollars.

Apple's Steve Jobs was fourth with 749 million dollars.

Jobs took a one dollar annual salary throughout the decade, but ranked fourth primarily because of a 647 million dollar gain on restricted stock that was granted in 2003 and vested in 2006. He still holds the shares.

In fifth place was Capital One Financial Corp. CEO Richard Fairbank with 569 million dollars earned over the decade.

The Journal analysis included salaries, bonuses, perks and realized gains on both restricted stock and stock options; it excluded new grants of restricted stock and stock options.