A survey by Pearl Meyer & Partners found that total compensation in 2001 for chief executives was down 4% from 2000. The average compensation was $10.46 million for the 50 companies they surveyed, who have average sales of $28 billion. Analysts hope that the idea of pay for performance is becoming a reality and credit the recession, war on terrorism and the collapse of Enron for the change.
See David Leonhardt, The New York Times, March 5, 2002