By TOM MURPHY AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Chief Executive James M. Cornelius received compensation valued at nearly $22 million in 2008, as the drug company saw a profitable year and the 65-year-old executive reached retirement age. Cornelius saw his salary rise 10 percent to $1.5 million after he was appointed chairman in February 2008, according to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But most of his compensation came from stock options and restricted stock valued at $15.7 million, an 86 percent increase from 2007. Cornelius received the majority of that total because under company policy, all previously unvested options and restricted shares vest for an employee once he or she reaches retirement age, spokesman Brian Henry said. Cornelius has announced no plans to retire. Henry also said a performance-related award for the years 2006 through 2008 also was included in the $15.7 million total. Of that total, options valued at $7.1 million have exercise prices of $22.14, above Bristol’s current share price. Bristol shares traded for $20.88 Tuesday morning. Bristol-Myers also gave Cornelius a separate performance-related bonus of $4.5 million, which more than doubled the bonus he received in 2007. The drugmaker also paid for a car and driver valued at $69,346 for its chief executive. The company requires that for security reasons. The proxy said Cornelius reimbursed Bristol-Myers $47,715 for personal air travel. The Associated Press compensation formula is designed to isolate the value the company’s board placed on the executive’s total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, any bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations don’t include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive’s compensation in the previous fiscal year. Bristol-Myers earned a profit of $5.25 billion, or $2.63 per share, last year, and revenue rose 13 percent to $20.6 billion. The drugmaker’s share price fell 12 percent in value last year, to close 2008 at $23.25. But the Standard and Poor’s 500 index took a deeper fall over the same span, dropping 38 percent.
