CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Despite the anemic economy, CEO paychecks, they are fatter than ever. How is that possible and can they be capped? Well, that's the cover story of the newest edition of "Fortune" magazine, and joining us now from London, "Fortune's" editor-at-large, Janet Guyon. Welcome to the program. Tell us about this phenomenon, how it started.</s>JANET GUYON, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, it's really quite interesting because it really started in about 1950 when companies started giving out stock options, and stock options is where a lot of the wealth comes from. Now, last year Steve Jobs got paid, we estimate, $381 million -- like he needs that extra money -- and mostly in stock options. And you should -- the numbers, when you compare in 1990 versus the year 2000, the amount of increase of various CEO's is astonishing. If we look at CEO Jack Welch of General Electric, now he is a great manager. He's done a great job with that company. But if you look at the way stock options and restrictive stock awards have increased his pay, his pay is up 2,400 percent, more than that, from about $4 million in 1990 to about $125 million last year. Major League Baseball players didn't see their pay increase that much and neither has the Dow Jones Industrials or the Nasdaq market increased by four figures over 10 years. So, it is just an incredible story, and a lot of it is all down to giving stock options.</s>CHRISTINE: Janet Guyon, "Fortune" magazine editor-at-large, thank you so much. A very interesting subject. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Despite Slumping Economy, CEOs Raking It In