Exelon chief's pay: $16 million
John Rowe spurned another $1.8 million
February 15, 2007|By Robert Manor, Tribune staff reporter.
John Rowe, chief executive of Exelon Corp., the corporate parent of Commonwealth Edison, took home more than $16 million last year in salary, pension and stock, according to the company.
In Exelon's annual report of operations to the Security and Exchange Commission, the company revealed that Rowe was paid a salary of $1,291,918 and a bonus of $168,345 because the utility holding company exceeded its financial goals.
Rowe also received $10,527,089 from stock grants, $1,324,393 in option awards, $1,683,455 in an incentive plan and $856,413 in an increase in his accumulated pension benefits, according to the Tuesday filing.
Additional miscellaneous compensation, worth more than $575,000 for Rowe, also was disclosed for the first time this year under new rules adopted by the SEC. That amount is made up of Exelon's spending on income taxes, savings plans, life insurance and more than $181,000 in corporate perks for Rowe, including $136,000 for personal and spousal travel on a corporate plane, $18,000 for a car lease and parking, $15,000 for financial planning and more than $10,000 for dining, health and airline club memberships.
Rowe could have made more money, had he wanted it. He was due a $1.8 million award of options, but he asked the board to instead donate the money.
The board gave charitable contributions to the Big Shoulders Fund, which provides inner-city youth at Catholic schools with scholarships, the Illinois Institute of Technology and the Chicago History Museum. Exelon said that since 2002, Rowe has contributed $6 million to charitable and cultural institutions, primarily in Chicago.
Though the new filing rules make direct comparisons to his 2005 salary difficult--Exelon reported $2,892,266 in salary and bonus the previous year--but it appears to be much less. Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn last year publicly chastised Rowe's compensation on the eve of increases in state electric rates, circulating a $27 million figure based on Rowe's exercise of stock options in 2005 that had been awarded in previous years.
Exelon plans to eliminate some perks in 2008, said Gary Snodgrass, executive vice president and chief of human resources for Exelon. He said that the company once offered club membership reimbursements and leased vehicles to attract and retain top talent. At current pay levels, that is no longer necessary, Snodgrass said.
But "Exelon will continue to provide Mr. Rowe with 50 hours of personal travel per year on the corporate aircraft and executive chauffeur services because of the time commitments his position requires," the company said in its SEC filing.
Snodgrass said Rowe's compensation is not particularly high when compared with that of CEOs of other large utility holding companies or other businesses in general. And, he said, the company has organized Rowe's compensation so that nearly all of it is at risk if the company fails to meet financial goals.
Stock performance is one goal where Exelon has done well. Its shares have risen at an average annual rate of 23 percent in the last five years, far outpacing the overall stock market. It closed at $63.78 Wednesday, up 36 cents.
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rmanor@tribune.com
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