By 2000, getting a significant portion (or most) of one's compensation in stock, option grants or deferred grants of equity was standard, and the gap was 376, according to the EPI.
The law made an exception for "performance-based" pay, which included grants of equity.
The most generous view is by looking at Mr. Pandit's total direct compensation, which includes salary, bonus payouts, other benefits and the grant date value of equity awards.
Rather than a focus on industry and sector-specific metrics that drive growth and shareholder value, compensation committees continue to grant large blocks of equity that will reward any increase in stock price, even as competitors experience the same share increases," said Ruel.
This allows the LBO general partners and divisional managers to control a large fraction of the total ownership without requiring huge investments they would be unable to make or large grants of free equity.
Profits made in 2012 were based on the remainder of equity grants from 2008 and 2010.
The most significant changes are that a significant portion of equity grants performance-vests based on prespecified measures and that unvested equity is forfeited by fired CEOs.
"The Use of Equity Grants to Manage Optimal Equity Incentive Levels". Core, John E. and Wayne Guay.
Bob was also a director of the Local Initiative Support Corp. (LISC), a non-profit provider of equity grants for low and moderate income housing, from 1987-1991.
Vesting equity depends on the magnitude and vesting schedule of equity grants made several years ago, and so is unlikely driven by current economic conditions.
So notable has been its practice that the company was called out as one of the most aggressive users of equity grants by Mark Mahaney, a veteran stock analyst with RBC Capital Markets.
