Colgate CEO receives $19.4M in 2006

Colgate CEO receives $19.4M in 2006

	Published : Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:41 By : Agencies Print this Story

NEW YORK (AP) - Reuben Mark, chairman and chief executive of consumer products company Colgate-Palmolive Co., received compensation valued at $19.4 million in 2006, according to a regulatory filing.

Mark was paid a base salary of $1.9 million, a rise of 4 percent from 2005. Colgate also paid him a cash bonus of $4.5 million. Cash bonus awards are part of the company's non-equity incentive plan which bases awards on earnings-per-share growth, the company said.

Mark also received $214,210 in perks, including $170,792 in company contributions to a 401(k) and a savings and investment plan, $2,400 in life-insurance premiums and $11,500 in a personal allowance that could be used for 'qualified expenditures' like legal and tax counseling. The company also paid $29,518 for a personal driver and use of a company car for Mark.

The CEO was awarded restricted stock options that had an estimated value of $12.9 million on the day they were granted. The options included 164,779 shares he received as a recognition and retention award, valued at $10 million.

The Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives' salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits and sometimes differ from the totals released by the companies.

During 2006, with Mark at the helm, Colgate's share price rose 19 percent but the company merely broke even in its earnings because of restructuring and special charges. Excluding the charges, the company's profit rose 9 percent in the year.

Mark is widely expected to retire as CEO within the next year, although he would stay on as chairman. If he did step down, Colgate puts the present-day value of his pension benefit at $42.9 million. Those benefits, the company said, are assumed to be payable at his current age. If he requested his payment in a lump sum, the company said he would take home $35.8 million.

Mark also has $1.2 million saved in a deferred compensation plan. If he retires, he would receive that amount in addition to his pension benefits.

Colgate's Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission also included a shareholder proposal to make executive pay more closely tied to the company's performance. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters Pension Fund is asking shareholders to vote on a proposal to establish pay-for-superior-performance standards in which the company is judged against its peers.

Colgate, however, is advising against the proposal, saying pay-for-performance is enough of a standard for setting compensation levels for senior executives.

Shareholders will have a chance to vote on May 3 at the company's next shareholders meeting in New York.

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive fell 5 cents to close at $66.79 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.