Philip Morris Int'l CEO Gets $36.9M in 2008

Source from:  Associated Press 03/27/2009

Philip Morris International's chief executive got a 68 percent raise in his 2008 compensation as he oversaw the spin-off of the world's biggest non-governmental cigarette maker into a standalone company. CEO Louis Camilleri was given compensation valued at $36.9 million, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing made Thursday. Philip Morris International Inc. was spun off from its former parent, Altria Group Inc., in March 2008. Camilleri was CEO of Altria when it first embarked on a multi-year restructuring that first led to the spin-off of Kraft Foods Inc. then the separation of the two cigarette makers. Michael Szymanczyk replaced Camilleri as CEO of Richmond, Va.-based Altria., which owns the smaller Philip Morris USA. Both Philip Morris companies make and sell Marlboro cigarettes, which is the No. 1 brand in the U.S. and overseas. Cigarette sales volumes in the U.S. have declined as consumers worry about the health risks of smoking and more smoking bans are enacted. But tobacco makers have raised prices - even during the recession - to recoup lost revenue, and emerging markets outside the U.S. remain a growth area for cigarette sales. Camilleri, who runs the global company from a New York office, got most of his compensation as stock awards valued at $25.4 million on Jan. 30, 2008, the day they were granted. Camilleri also was given a $9.5 million performance-based bonus, on top of his $1.6 million salary. He also got about $485,000 in other compensation, a category that includes perks such as personal use of the company aircraft ($121,283), car expenses ($23,989), a home security system ($6,648) and contributions to a defined contribution plan ($235,096). As chief executive of Altria Group in 2007, when it still owned both Philip Morris companies, Camilleri was given roughly $22 million in compensation. The Associated Press compensation formula is designed to isolate the value the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, any bonuses, 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, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive's compensation in the previous fiscal year. The company also said it scheduled a shareholder meeting for May 5 in New York. Enditem