Administration March 11, 2000

CEOs Holding On To Options

November 3, 2000 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Chief executive officers (CEOs) at the vast majority of large corporations are holding on to their stock options, rather than cashing in, according to a new survey.
Reported by

The survey, conducted by Pearl Meyer & Partners, found that CEOs at 190 of the 200 biggest US companies are retaining vested options with average paper profits valued at $33.7 million (priced as of October 18). 

Four of the CEOs surveyed do not hold options – and six do not hold any vested options, according to Reuters.

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The firm said the three CEOs with the biggest dollar value increase in their vested option holdings from fiscal year-end through October 18 were:

  • John Chambers – Cisco Systems (up $257 million year-to-date)
  • Kenneth Lay  – Enron Corp. (up $189 million increase)
  • Charles Watson  – Dynegy Inc. (up $143 million)

On the other hand, the volatile market hasn’t been kind to all stocks.  The survey also noted the following paper losses:

  • Bernard Ebbers  – WorldCom (down by $178 million)
  • Michael Dell  – Dell Computer (down $120 million)
  • Reuben Mark  – Colgate-Palmolive (down $98 million)

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