Data for CEO compensation was obtained from proxy statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the latest fiscal year. CEO compensation is listed for companies whose common stock comprises the Standard & Poor's Super 1500. Data included in the study is described below, along with the methodological assumptions used in calculating the total annual compensation for CEOs.

• Time Period of Data: Dates reported in the website denote the fiscal year as provided to Executive PayWatch by The Corporate Library.
  
• Data Source: All executive compensation data used in this site was obtained from company proxy statements filed with the SEC. The data was provided to the AFL-CIO in database format by The Corporate Library.
  
• CEO Name and Company: The name of the CEO and company affiliation is derived from the proxy statement. The website does not adjust for CEO changes at a company after the fiscal year.
  
• Salary: Salary paid to the CEO for the fiscal year.
  
• Bonus: Bonus paid to the CEO in the fiscal year.
  
• Other: The value of perquisites and other benefits provided to the CEO. This could include personal use of company cars and airplanes, country club memberships, tax reimbursements, insurance plans or payments to saving plans. It includes the aggregate of the categories "other annual compensation" and "all other compensation" as reported in the proxy statement. Payments to savings plans are part of Change in Pension Value and Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Earnings.
  
• Restricted Stock Awards: A restricted stock award is a grant of shares to the CEO by the company. Typically, the CEO is subject to restrictions, such as being unable to sell or transfer the stock for a specified period of time. Under some plans, the CEO may lose the stock award if employment is terminated during the restricted period. The dollar value of a restricted stock award equals the number of shares multiplied by the closing market price of the company's stock on the date of the grant. The value is not adjusted to reflect any of the stock restrictions.
  
• Long-Term Incentive Payouts: A long-term incentive payout is cash or stock paid to the CEO for achieving a specified performance goal over a period longer than a year. Typically, performance goals include the financial performance of the company or the price of the company's stock.
  
• Value of Stock Option Grants: Stock options give an executive the right to purchase company stock in the future at a predetermined price, known as the "strike" or "exercise" price. Stock options generally become exercisable at staggered intervals and expire after five or 10 years. Stock options are valuable only if the market price of the company's stock exceeds the "strike" price of the option. For example, if an executive is awarded 100 stock options at a strike price of $10 a share, and the market price is $20 a share, then the executive could buy 100 shares at $10 a share, collecting the $10 difference between the strike price and market price for each share—or a total of $1,000. However, if the market price of the share is less than the strike price, the stock options have no value.

The SEC requires that companies estimate the value stock option grants in their proxy statements, according to the Black-Scholes option pricing model or the potential realizable value method. The Black-Scholes model estimates the present value of an option based on several assumptions, including the future volatility of the stock, the risk-free rate of return of a U.S. Treasury security, the future dividend yield and the expected length of time the option is exercisable. The potential realizable value method calculates the potential value of the stock option by assuming annual growth rates of 5 percent and 10 percent of the stock price over the term of the option, usually five or 10 years. For purposes of this website, the Black-Scholes value of stock option grants will be used as reported in the company’s proxy statement or as estimated by The Corporate Library.

• Total Compensation: Total compensation was determined by adding the salary, bonus, other compensation, the value of restricted stock awards, long-term incentive payouts and the value of stock option awards in the fiscal year. The SEC Total is the sum of salary, bonus, stock awards that have vested, option awards that have vested, non-equity incentive plan compensation, change in pension and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings and all other compensation.

Other Compensation from Stock Options. These categories reflect the current value of past compensation through stock option grants. The categories are not counted in the compensation totals to avoid double-counting.

• Stock Options Gains: This figure represents compensation paid to a CEO through the exercise of stock option grants in the fiscal year.
  
• Value of Exercisable Options: This represents the value of "in-the-money" stock option grants that a CEO is eligible to exercise. "In-the-money" stock options are those whose market price of the stock exceeds the strike price of the option grants.
  
• Value of Unexercisable Options: Unexercisable options are option grants that have not yet vested. For example, this would include options that a CEO has held for two years but whose terms require three years to pass before the options are available. The value of the options is the difference between the market price and strike price of the stock options.
  
• Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation: This is compensation earned pursuant to non-equity incentive plans. This includes incentive plan awards that are not stock or equity. Incentive plans generally provide for compensation intended to serve as an incentive for performance to occur over a specified period.
  
• Change in Pension Value and Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Earnings: This is the increase in actuarial value to the executive officer of all defined benefit and earnings on non-qualified deferred compensation over the past year.