This article from Fortune seems to disagree with the Businessweek story below. I think this sums up the difference:
Average CEO compensation dropped 23% in 2002, to $15.7 million, but that's mostly because the pay of a few mega-earners fell significantly. A more telling number–median compensation, or what the middle-of-the-road CEO earned–actually rose 14%, to $13.2 million. This in a year when the total return of the S&P 500 was down 22.1%.
Lots of other good articles on CEOs at the Fortune website. Check it out.
