Ford CEO gets $43m for 4 months' work

DETROIT - FORD Motor said on Thursday that chief executive (CEO) Alan Mulally received US$28.18 million (S$42.7 million) in compensation last year, including an US$18.5 million bonus.

The carmaker posted a loss of US$12.7 billion last year.

Mr Mulally, a former Boeing executive, replaced Ford family scion Bill Ford as CEO last September.

Chairman Bill Ford, who was CEO for the first eight months of last year, did not receive any cash salary, bonus, or stock awards for last year as he had made a commitment in 2005 to forgo any new remuneration until the automotive unit made sustained profits.

But Ford took an expense of US$9.95 million last year related to his previous stock and option awards.

Ford, the No.2 carmaker in the United States, disclosed in an annual proxy on Thursday that Mr Mulally was awarded a US$7.5 million hiring bonus and US$11 million to offset the compensation he gave up for ending his tenure as the head of Boeing's commercial plane division.

He also received four million stock options last year, but at least three million of those are out of the money, meaning that he will have to wait until the company's fortunes turn around before he can cash in on the package.

The expense for his options and other stock-based awards totalled US$8.6 million, and included cost recognised last year for a US$5 million stock option grant that he received in March this year as part of his 2007 option grant, Ford said. He also received other compensation totalling US$334,433, which included US$172,974 for required use of the corporate aircraft.

Ford's president of the Americas, Mr Mark Fields, was granted a total compensation of US$5.57 million last year, while Ford chief financial officer Don Leclair was granted US$4.4 million.