Want To Know How Much John Chambers Makes?

Updated 3:33 PM EDT, Thu, Sep 24, 2009

Print Email Share TWITTER FACEBOOK

The chief executive of Cisco Systems Inc., John Chambers, received $14.2 million in compensation for the latest fiscal year, up 16 percent from a year earlier due to more generous allotments of stocks and options, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures disclosed in a regulatory filing.

As Cisco's sales and revenue shrank during the year that ended July 25, Chambers and other executives got no payments from the company's cash incentive plan, which yielded Chambers $3 million in the previous year.

However, the board gave Chambers a discretionary bonus of $2 million for fiscal 2009, as a reward for "vision and leadership" in guiding the company through the global economic downturn, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Wednesday.

Cisco, the world's largest maker of computer networking equipment, reined in spending and laid off about 2,000 people during the year.

Chambers base salary was $375,000, unchanged from the previous year. He received stock options and restricted stock worth $11.8 million when they were granted, up from $8.9 million a year ago. He also received $9,998 in 401(k) matching contributions, a 10 percent increase from last year.

LOOK

Silicon Valley High-Tech Company Tour

LOOK

Los Altos Mansion Could Go for $150

Cisco's stock rose 1 percent during the fiscal year. It dropped to a multiyear low in March, then recovered, borne up by the resurgent economy. As a maker of capital equipment, Cisco is sensitive to business investment cycles. The shares fell 23 cents to $22.57 in Thursday afternoon trading.

For the full fiscal year, the San Jose, Calif.-based company earned $6.1 billion on $36.1 billion in sales, compared with $8.1 billion on sales of $39.5 billion in the previous fiscal year.

The Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives' salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.