Massey CEO’s Pay Vastly Exceeds Salaries of Peers, Reports Find

by Paul J. Nyden, Charleston Gazette, May 11, 2006

Don Blankenship, chief executive officer of Massey Energy, receives higher annual pay than most of his colleagues, according to a new report issued on Wednesday by PROXY Governance Inc …

"The average three-year compensation paid to the [Massey] CEO is 419 percent above the median paid to CEOs at peer companies, while the average three-year compensation paid to the other named executives is in line with the median paid to executives at peer companies."

… In a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Third Point stated, "For the year ended Dec. 31, 2005, Massey’s CEO was paid $33.7 million, more than four times the average compensation of $8.1 million for the competitors’ CEOs."