Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

The topic of exorbitant executive pay has surfaced on this board from time to time. The compensation package of a departing SVP at PepsiCo could serve as Exhibit “A” for an argument that executive pay is out of control.

This is an excerpt from #msg-41668708, posted today on The Global Demographic Tailwind board:

When she became chief executive officer, Ms. Nooyi [the CEO of PEP] said her first priority was keeping Mr. White as a deputy. He was granted a lucrative [a major understatement!] compensation package as part of his three roles. He had roughly 1 million exercisable options of PepsiCo shares, valued at about $59.9 million, according to the company's most recent proxy statement. Under SEC pay-disclosure rules, PepsiCo reported for Mr. White a 2008 total-pay figure of $10.1 million, far more than any other company executive except for Ms. Nooyi, whose total pay was $13.4 million.

All this for someone who ran PepsiCo’s international beverage/snack-foods business. How hard is it to find someone with the requisite skills for such a task?