CEO Bonuses Take a Hit in \’09

The advance teaser for Equilar\’s 2010 Bonus Plan Design report is out today, with plenty of statistics that should cheer populist revolutionaries and disappoint current or wannabe captains of industry. Total CEO bonuses fell 21.9 percent in FY 2009, though the numbers still aren\’t small: median bonus pay was a rather hefty $689,000 in 2009, though it was an even steeper $882,105 in 2008.

Unsurprisingly, the financial industry, much of it under TARP\’s house rules, took a big knock in the report, with median payouts declining 51.1 percent. The technology industry, however, took the dropoff crown: their bonuses fell 59.2 percent. The only unscathed industries were healthcare, which posted a 14.7 percent gain, and services, which posted a 20.8 percent gain.

So bonuses are definitely down, but hey, it could be worse: you could be one of the 26.1 percent of CEOs who received not a penny of bonus money in 2009. Yeah, we know. World\’s tiniest violin. But that\’s an 8.3 percent rise from 2008, which is pretty sizable.

At the end of the day, close to three-quarters of CEOs are still getting bonuses, most of them far larger than an average American\’s salary. But no matter how you feel about the President\’s and the SEC\’s position on the matter, you have to admit that their pressure is working– for the moment, anyway.

Request the full report here.