The rise in share prices has helped trigger many executive bonus schemes, with FTSE 100 directors collecting an average of 58% more from share-related bonus awards, according to research by Income Data Services.
The rest of the board of eight non-executive directors has an average age of more than 66 (three are over 70) and six have each served for more than 10 years which under British standards would throw their independence into doubt.Investors rarely question a company's corporate governance when all is going well, but they swiftly turn into critics if things change.
While compensation for Goldman directors is up substantially from 2008, it is actually down from 2007, when the stock price was higher and directors were paid an average of $670,292 each, according to Equilar.
When it comes to tech companies in particular, where female board directors come to an average of 7.1percentthethe gender gap is painfully obvious.
Directors say they spend an average of about 250 hours a year on board business, up from 150 just two years ago, said Roger W. Raber, president of the National Association of Corporate Directors.
At the same, the compensation of directors in this period — an average of $134,000 in cash and incentives a year — appeared to be unrelated to the performance of the company.
Overall, the average pay of FTSE 100 executive directors increased by 14% to an average of £2.1m in 2012.
Duncan's rewards are a source of fury and Kevin Lygo's £1.1m salary as director of television compares with an average level for staffers of £72,000 last year.
Companies with at least one female director on the board had an average growth in net income of 14 percent in the past six years, compared with 10 percent for boards with just male members, according to the research.
But, still: my former art director told me it takes an average of 800 pictures from a cover shoot to get a useable picture.
