Media edged out financials as the highest-paid sector for GCs when it comes to cash compensation in 2019. But when it comes to serious money – stock and options – technology and tech-heavy businesses are where the action is. Alan Braverman, GC of The Walt Disney Co., took the top slot with just over $8 million ($1.7M in salary and 6.3M in non-equity incentive comp). Eric Grossman, CLO of Morgan Stanley, fell to #2 after a few years in the top slot. But don’t weep too hard. Grossman still pulled down almost $7 million in cash comp ($1M salary plus a $6 million bonus). Flip to a different metric used by ALM Intelligence to compile the 2020 General Counsel Compensation Report, with stock and stock options woven in, and a different picture emerges. When cash isn’t king, tech muscles everyone else aside. The crown goes to Google’s CLO David Drummond with $133.5 million. (Drummond left Google in December.) The gender pay gap narrowed last year, which is good news, and when it comes to all-in comp, including stock awards, women did especially well: 5 of the top 10 slots, including 3 of the top 4, went to women: Susan Helfrick of Chewy ($30.3 million), Kate Adams of Apple ($25.2 million) and Jennifer Newstead of Facebook ($19.1 million).
Published December 14, 2020.
