No Surprise: Cablevision Execs Get Paid

Long island Business News has just published its annual list of the 100 highest paid executives of public companies on Long Island by total compensation. Total compensation includes basic salary, stock awards, stock options, bonuses, incentives and other perks.

The top four on the list, all executives at Cablevision including founder, Charles Dolan and current CEO (and son), James Dolan earned a combined total of $74 million in 2007. James Dolan easily topped the list with a total compensation of $24 million (of which $1.8 million is basic salary) and number 4 on the list earned $14.7 million. I point this out because the earnings drop significantly when you get to number 5 on the list, John Swainson, CEO of CA, Inc (formerly Computer Associates) who earned $8.5 million. Cablevision is a virtual monopoly on Long Island. My family is into cablevision for a hefty sum each month for cable television, internet, and VOIP services, much to our chagrin, so the compensation is not surprising.

I couldn’t help but search out the women on the list. The highest paid woman, Nancy Cooper, Chief Financial Officer of CA earned a total compensation of $2.4 million, the 5^th highest paid at CA and number 28 on the list. It is interesting to note that her fellow male senior executives not only were paid more but have basic salaries starting at $500k. Her basic salary is $314k. Only 3 other women made the list, ranked at 82, 91 and 98; two from Pall Corp, Lisa McDermott, CFO and Treasurer and Mary Ann Bartlett, SVP and General Counsel and M. Catherine Morris of Arrow Electronics, Inc. each with a total compensation of less than $1 million. I am not sure if I should cheer because they are there or sneer because there are only 4 and they made significantly less money than their male counterparts overall.

It is impossible to ascertain the number of minorities, if any, that are on the list. I will have to divine this information from deeper research. Long Island is a diverse community and should have a fair representation of diversity in the highly-paid executive sphere, I hope.