You might not expect to see a detailed article on executive compensation in a fashion industry tracker, but Women's Wear Daily, "Your Daily Dose of Fashion Industry News," features exactly that today. In "Executive Pay, LBO Shift," WWD details the bigger pay for retail executives compared to their vendor counterparts. Top among vendors is Ralph Lauren, Chairman and CEO of the comapny that bears his name, with $25.9 million in pay last year. Though certainly a good compensation package, it is significantly smaller than the top retailer pay belonging to Target CEO Robert Ulrich who took home $36.4 million. In fact second and third place among retailers, belonging to Wal-Mart President and CEO Lauren Lee Scott Jr. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Chairman and CEO Michael Jeffries, both earned more than top paid Ralph Lauren.

The trend of fashion retailers earning more than vendors is reflected in a comparison of the total pay of the top 10 executives from both categories, with the top retail executives earning nearly $200 million while vendor executives were paid about $89 million cumulatively.

The former chief executive of Brocade was convicted of securities fraud in the first ever case of criminal options backdating. Gregory Reyes was convicted on ten counts, including fraud, falsified accounting, conspiracy, and falsifying financial statements. He faces up to 20 years in prison for defrauding shareholders between 2000 and 2004 by conspiring to alter the dates on stock options granted to employees and falsifying documents to cover the scheme.

Mr. Reyes's lawyer, Richard Marmaro, issued a statement saying his client was innocent. "We are confident he will ultimately be exonerated. At all times, he acted in the best interests of the employees and shareholders of Brocade," Mr. Marmaro said.

Chrysler's new chief executive may seem a little familiar to critics of executive pay - Robert Nardelli is set to take his seat at the head of the company after being forced to resign from Home Depot over executive compensation issues. His new employer - private equity firm Cerberus Capital - agreed to hire him but failed to disclose any details about his compensation other than the fact that it would be tied to the automaker's progress throughout its turnaround.

Nardelli himself indicated that he thinks the new compensation is fair and hopes it will not become an issue with Chrysler's ongoing contract talks with the UAW union. "The last thing I would want to be as part of the new Chrysler is a distraction," Nardelli told reporters in a news conference at Chrysler's headquarters. "It certainly is my hope that it doesn't become an issue."

The battle between Vodafone and Cable & Wireless shareholders and executives continues to wage as the company's annual meeting approaches. Many may recall the company's fiasco last year when investors voiced similar concerns that ended up causing quite the ruckus. Shareholders are expected to oppose measures to grant the chairman of the company 5.5 million stock options worth over $12 million as part of a three year incentive scheme. While none of these issues have affected share prices to date, analysts do have concerns about the company's future if changes aren't made to address executive compensation.

A Presidio Pay Survey found that today's initial public offerings are much more shareholder friendly when it comes to executive compensation. Equity ownership for founders and CEOs dropped by 25% which suggests that owners are giving up more equity to venture capital or private equity before the IPO process begins. The survey, conducted by Presidio Pay Advisors, also found that:

• Stock option overhang levels have fallen from 25-30% to nearly 17%.
• Annual stock option grants were down 20% despite a 67% increase in the number of employees.
• Restricted stock use is up 60% from prior years.
• Over 50% of the companies are public.
  

"The survey found that today's IPO companies are more 'shareholder friendly,'" said Kyle Holm, a Principal at Presidio Pay Advisors. "The companies are more profitable, their average stock option run-rates declined 20% since 2004, and the majority of their CEO's pay is delivered through 'at-risk' incentives, rather than guaranteed base salaries," Holm concludes.

The head of Alcan Inc. spoke out against critics today who attacked compensation packages distributed to executives for accepting a foreign takeover bid. The firm agreed last month to a $38 billion takeover bid from London mining company Rio Tinto, and if the deal goes through CEO Dick Evans will receive more than $50 million in compensation including $37 million in stock options. The executive argued that stock-based compensation aligns executives with shareholders and that criticism of the deal is undue.

"It is totally within the norm. You have to consider that less than a year ago, the market capitalization of Alcan was less than $15-billion, today it is about $35-billion. The purpose of stock-based compensation is, in fact, to align the interests of management and shareholders," Mr. Evans said on a conference call to discuss Alcan's second-quarter financial results. He said it was "naive" to think that corporate managers and boards of directors don't have a duty to act in the best interest of shareholders, including considering takeover offers. And in the end, he is right to a certain degree - stock based compensation packages do align interests but only if they are set at the same level as common shareholders. That is, if he would be holding stock in either situation and honestly feels that a buyout is the best option.

American Airlines continues to upset investors with its executive compensation plans after it increased the plan yet again last week. The new provisions would enable executives to earn an additional $13 million in stock in 2010 during a time when employees have faced 20 to 30 percent pay cuts. The airline's turnaround wasn't all that bad for employees as it cut less jobs than any other major airline that underwent bankruptcy; however, executives and top managers received rewards during this same period thanks to AMR's soaring stock price and stock-bonus plans. Last year, $95 million in stock was dished out to executives while another $160 million was shelled out during April of this year! Clearly there is a disconnect here between executives and employees that needs to be solved - especially in a major company shortly after a bankruptcy.

Nissan Motors Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn made sure executives were feeling executives' pain this year after the company underperformed both Honda Motors and Toyota Motors. The chief executive eliminated bonuses for top executives, including himself, last year after profits dropped substantially. The move pleased many shareholders who are glad to finally see some accountability in the boardroom.

"It was a good move by Ghosn to show shareholders and employees that he will hold top management responsible for missing sales and profit targets," said Yoshihiro Okumura, who helps oversee Chiba-gin Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. "Clearly, Ghosn had too much on his plate both trying to improve Nissan and Renault's performance."