Good morning – Fortune senior editor at large Geoff Colvin here, sitting in for Alan.
Shareholders may be rejoicing this spring to find that, for the first time, proxy statements will report a new, SEC-mandated measure of CEO pay: “compensation actually paid” for the past three years. CEOs may be bracing for headlines announcing never-before-seen numbers. Alas for everyone, these numbers are not what they seem.
Proxy statements have reported CEO pay for eons, but the amounts are largely speculative. They include estimated values for stock options and other stock-based pay that will not vest—nor will its real value be known—for years. In any given year, figuring out how much a CEO got paid as most people understand the term has been difficult or impossible. Finally, it seemed, this new SEC rule would reveal the truth.
