Wal-Mart's (NYSE:WMT) problems be pushing down the company's stock at a rate of -3.4% annually but certainly not the compensation of it's top executive H. Lee Scott, which has topped $8.5 million per year. Scott is only the second CEO in Wal-Mart's history, with the first obviously being Sam Walton, and many are questioning whether or not he is the right one to lead the company. The world's largest retailer has underperformed the S&P500 for most of the decade while new initiatives such as expasions into Germany and the inclusion of higher end merchandise have failed miserably. Meanwhile, the company continues to receive a slew of angry letters from unions and lawyers looking to slow the company's rapid expansion outside of urban America and into smaller towns.

So, is Scott paid too much? Well, Wal-Mart continues to defend Scott's paycheck and his performance, pointing to the fact that last year alone sales increased $37 billion and income from continuing operations increased by $770 million. Moreover, the company claims Scott's compensation is benchmarked with the CEOs of other publicly traded U.S. retailers and large companies, adding that its boss gets paid one of the lowest salaries as a percentage of annual revenue and net income. Regardless, all of these improvements have done little for shareholder value, which is all that matters when all is said and done. Perhaps it's time for a change...