Executive Compensation

Billionaire Sumner Redstone last year got a 39% boost in compensation — to $21 million — for his role as executive chairman of Viacom Inc. But Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman took home considerably less than he did in the company's previous fiscal year, when compensation totaling $84.5 million made him the highest-paid executive in corporate America. In 2011, Dauman got $43 million in salary, stock and other benefits, according to the company's proxy filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Faced with mounting public and legislative pressure to rein in presidential pay packages, California State University trustees Wednesday adopted a new policy that limits executive compensation. The policy will cap the salary of newly hired presidents at 10% above that of their predecessor, with a ceiling of $325,000 in public funds. The measure was approved unanimously by the Board of Trustees at a meeting in Long Beach. The action followed a public outcry over the decision in July to pay the new president of San Diego State University an annual salary of $400,000 — $350,000 in public funds and $50,000 from a campus foundation — which was $100,000 more than his predecessor.

The chairman of California State University's governing board said Tuesday that he will propose capping the pay of new executives at 10% above what their predecessors made in the wake of stinging criticism of recent salary decisions. Herb Carter, chairman of the Board of Trustees, said the limit would address concerns raised by several state lawmakers who have introduced legislation that would establish stricter policies and curb the trustees' ability to set compensation. Trustees gathered Tuesday in Long Beach and will continue their meeting Wednesday.

Kids will be kids Re "Why does Electric Daisy draw fire?," Opinion, Aug. 22 My son has been attending the Electric Daisy concerts for several years. Like many attendees, I'm sure, my kid isn't your typical juvenile delinquent: He's on his high school's honor roll and is a hospital volunteer, among other things. Why he likes Electric Daisy is a mystery to me. But I doubt my parents understood why my generation liked Jefferson Airplane, the Doors or, for that matter, love-ins at Griffith Park.

A rule passed Tuesday lets investors vote on executive pay as often as once a year. Problem is, companies don't have to abide by the votes. The Securities and Exchange Commission ruled that companies must hold shareholder votes on their executives' pay at least once every three years, and as frequently as every year if shareholders want it. Congress required such "say-on-pay" votes in last year's financial overhaul package but left it to...

A rule passed Tuesday lets investors vote on executive pay as often as once a year. The problem is that companies don't have to abide by the votes. The Securities and Exchange Commission ruled that companies must hold shareholder votes on their executives' pay at least once every three years, and as frequently as every year if shareholders want it. Congress required such "say-on-pay" votes in last year's financial overhaul package but left it to the SEC to work out the timing and other details.

The three top executives of media company Viacom Inc. received a total compensation of nearly $165 million in fiscal 2010, underscoring that despite tougher times for the entertainment business, the industry's executives continue to rank among the highest paid in America. The disclosures came in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Viacom, which owns Paramount Pictures and cable television channels MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. Chief Executive Philippe Dauman was awarded salary, stock and other benefits totaling $84.5 million in the fiscal year, which comprised the first nine months of 2010, according to the documents filed Friday.

The labor union representing hourly workers at the Disneyland Resort hotels is seeking to give shareholders a greater voice in executive compensation at parent Walt Disney Co. Unite Here has put forth a pair of proposals that it says would more closely align an executive's pay and bonuses with the company's performance, holding out Chief Executive Robert A. Iger's pay package for special scrutiny. The group cited harsh criticism of Iger's salary by two corporate governance authorities in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

After years of shareholder complaints about executives' compensation, Occidental Petroleum Corp. said Thursday that it would significantly reduce how much it pays top officers and confirmed that Chief Executive Ray R. Irani would relinquish that job next year. President Stephen I. Chazen will succeed Irani as CEO; Irani will stay as chairman but won't be involved in most daily operations of the nation's fourth-largest oil company. Both changes grew out of shareholder concerns.

Occidental Petroleum Corp.'s Ray R. Irani has wooed the international potentates of petroleum. But his extravagant pay and the same succession fears that helped him replace Oxy's nonagenarian founder Armand Hammer 20 years ago are pushing the 75-year-old chief executive out of the Los Angeles company's daily operations. Irani is expected to announce in October that he will step aside as chief executive in 2011 but would remain on the board, people with knowledge of the plan said Tuesday.