So, I have officially published my first story with Reuters. Nothing fascinating -- just a brief news story about a survey of executive pay in Germany, which I compared to executive pay in the US -- but for me, it represents jumping over a lot of hurdles.
The press conference was in German, so I waited until everyone but the speakers had left and begged them to answer a few questions for me in English. The hardest part for me was digging through financial documents online and doing math for three hours to come up with few simple paragraphs. Fortunately, a very nice editor here took time to help me doublecheck things and make the story presentable.
Here it is, if you care:
18:46 16Aug07 -Top German CEO salaries advance 7.3 pct, says survey
FRANKFURT, Aug 16 (Reuters) - German executive pay rose rapidly in 2006, according to survey results released on Wednesday by DSW, a shareholders' activist group.
The survey examined the salaries and bonuses earned in the past two years by CEOs of companies listed on the DAX, the 30-member blue-chip stock index.
Chief executive officers were paid an average of 3.4 million euros ($4.6 million) in salary in 2006, 7.3 percent more than in 2005. Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann had the fattest pay slip at 9.4 million, up 9.3 percent, it said.
Factoring in compensation linked to share price performance, CEOs' pay increase was twice as steep, rising from an average 3.75 million euros in 2005 to 4.4 million euros in 2006 based on those companies providing figures for both years.
Last year was the first that German companies had to detail what individual executives earned.
"In Europe, we are in the top quarter in terms of pay, easily comparable to France and Britain," said Gunther Friedl, a professor at Munich Technical University who helped present the survey results and spoke with Reuters after a news conference.
"American pay is still the highest in the world, but in the last few years, we are filling the gap more," he added.
In 2006, CEOs of the 30 U.S. companies included in the Dow Jones Industrial Index earned an average salary of $1.5 million, according to SEC filings. However, the executives' total compensation packages averaged closer to $17 million each when stock options and all other payouts were included in the calculation.
(Reporting by Amanda Bensen) ($1=.7421 Euro)
1 comment:
All right! Congratulations!
And of course, hi! I got your last couple emails and it sounds like fun... and more, like just the sort of job you've been looking for. I hope it turns out that way, and this development certainly must help!
I'm back in VT now, as KA goes to work on her dissertation, so we'll be here for a couple years until she finishes -- and then we'll see where life takes us. In the meantime I already got saddled with being a town selectman, and have been doing a variety of teaching jobs in the last 8 months since we moved, but am now looking at some library jobs that would leave me more time for my writing, which I think has been very gradually improving.
But since you update your blog way more often than I do mine, I've added it to my bookmarks toolbar so I can keep up with your doings and rovings. I've only read the last couple posts but I love your style!
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