Is there a golden ratio for trade group CEO salaries?
The Washington Post reported Sunday that the top execs of major trade lobby groups enjoyed an average pay of $2.34 million in 2010. Increases averaged 16 percent despite the slow economy.
Curious about how CEO pay compared to total lobbying expenditures, we calculated salary as a percentage of lobbying totals for the top 20 organizations.
The numbers were all over the map, ranging from 3.6 percent for U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas Donahue to 87.7 percent for the American Petroleum Institute’s Jack Gerard. (We should note that Donahue is doing just fine, with a pay package of $4.75 million. His ratio is low because the Chamber’s lobby bill – more than $132 million in 2010 – is so much higher than other organizations.)
The average for the 20 organizations was 33.3 percent. In other words, average CEOs in this group were paid 1/3 of their organization’s total lobbying bill.
So, trade group CEOs, if you’re feeling you’re underpaid and unappreciated, you might email this story to your board.
| CEO | Trade Group | 2010 Salary | 2010 Lobbying Expenditures | Salary as % of Lobbying |
| Billy Tauzin | Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers | $11,570,000 | $21,740,000 | 53.2% |
| Jack Gerard | American Petroleum Institute | $6,400,000 | $7,300,000 | 87.7% |
| Thomas Donahue | US Chamber of Commerce | $4,750,000 | $132,067,500 | 3.6% |
| Thomas Kuhn | Edison Electric Institute | $3,980,000 | $13,080,000 | 30.4% |
| T. Timothy Ryan | Securities Industry & Financial Markets Assn | $2,970,000 | $5,420,000 | 54.8% |
| Kyle McSlarrow | National Cable & Telecommunications Association | $2,810,000 | $17,710,000 | 15.9% |
| Pamela Bailey | Grocery Manufacturers Association | $2,800,000 | $3,950,000 | 70.9% |
| Edward Yingling | American Bankers Association | $2,300,000 | $7,760,000 | 29.6% |
| Calvin Dooley | American Chemistry Council | $2,290,000 | $8,130,000 | 28.2% |
| Dale Stinton | National Association of Realtors | $1,930,000 | $17,580,000 | 11.0% |
| Dave McCurdy | Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers | $1,910,000 | $5,864,000 | 32.6% |
| Frank Keating | American Council of Life Insurers | $1,820,000 | $7,083,452 | 25.7% |
| John Castellani | Business Roundtable | $1,800,000 | $11,210,000 | 16.1% |
| Steve Bartlett | Financial Services Roundtable | $1,790,000 | $7,460,000 | 24.0% |
| Richard Baker | Managed Funds Association | $1,780,000 | $3,720,000 | 47.8% |
| Daniel Mica | Credit Union National Association | $1,660,000 | $6,921,721 | 24.0% |
| Stephen Miller | American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity | $1,640,000 | $3,143,536 | 52.2% |
| Mitch Bainwol | Recording Industry Association of America | $1,610,000 | $5,552,247 | 29.0% |
| Richard Umbdenstock | American Hospital Association | $1,560,000 | $19,488,358 | 8.0% |
| Walter McCormick | U.S. Telecom Association | $1,550,000 | $6,990,000 | 22.2% |
| Average | 33.3% |
Sources: Washington Post, Center for Responsive Politics, First Street
[...] and Insurance. He received a salary of $1.78 million in 2010, which according to First Street amounted to nearly 48 percent of MFA’s lobbying expenditures for that [...]