CEO pay dives in a rough 2008

— -- CEOs had a rough 2008. First, their image sank to new lows as the Wall Street and economic collapse fanned public outrage. Then most, even those far removed from the financial sector, took a blow to their wealth, as well.

That's clear now that U.S. companies are deep into the period in which they tell shareholders how much top executives earned in 2008 — a year when most Americans got a refresher course in financial pain.

While it might be hard to muster sympathy, 2008 was difficult financially for McClendon, 49. The co-founder of Chesapeake owned 5.5% of the company, a stake worth $2.3 billion when the stock peaked at $74 in July, ranking him 134th among the Forbes 400 richest Americans.

But McClendon gambled on the success of his company and bought Chesapeake stock on margin; when his stock tanked, he was forced to sell almost all his shares for $595 million in October to cover a margin call. That left him about $2 billion poorer. He may never see the Forbes list again.

That was an extreme example of what a subpar year it was for CEOs in almost every compensation category. A USA TODAY analysis of executive compensation data provided by the Associated Press found that the median salary of a CEO running an S&P 500 company rose 3% last year to surpass $1 million. The median bonus and other incentive cash dropped 27% to $1.3 million, and total compensation was down 7% to $7.6 million.

In many cases, it was worse than it looked, because Securities and Exchange Commission rules require companies to value options and other stock grants based on the dates they were granted. According to AP, 90% of the $1.2 billion in CEO options granted last year are under water, which means the current stock price is too low to yield a profit.