Exxon Loves Its Top Management

Exxon Mobil Corp., one of the biggest world corporation and oil giant, whose $40 billion profit last year again broke the record for a U.S. company, awarded chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson an 18% raise to $21.7 million, according to an analysis of a proxy statement filed Thursday.

Tillerson, 56, who's held the top job at the oil giant since 2006, received a salary of $1.8 million and a $3.4 million bonus in 2007. The company boosted Tillerson's salary to $1.9 million on Jan. 1.

The greater share of Tillerson's package was from a stock award Exxon Mobil valued at roughly $16.1 million when it was granted Nov. 28, according to the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives' salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

Exxon Mobil's (XOM, Fortune 500) 2007 profit topped the previous U.S. record - also by Exxon Mobil - of $39.5 billion set in 2006. For the year, sales rose to $404.5 billion - the most ever for the Irving, Texas-based company - from $377.6 billion in 2006.

The eye-popping results weren't a surprise given record prices for a barrel of oil at the end of 2007. For much of the fourth quarter, they hovered around $90 a barrel, more than 50% higher than a year ago.

Prices have remained high thus far in 2008, hitting a record of more than $112 a barrel Wednesday.

However, Exxon Mobil's record results, as well as those of some other oil companies, have come with a backlash given historically high prices at the pump of late.