Compensation for DuPont chair and CEO Kullman more than doubled in 2009

DuPont CEO sees compensation more than double

DOVER, Del. — DuPont Co. chairman and chief executive officer Ellen Kullman received compensation valued at $8.3 million last year, more than double what she received a year earlier, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing Friday.

Kullman, who took over as CEO of the Wilmington-based chemical company in January 2009 and became board chairman at the end of the year, received a salary of $1.1 million, up from $703,000 in 2008. She also was awarded performance-based bonuses of $1.5 million, more than double the bonus amount of $718,000 in the prior year, when her total compensation was valued at $3.37 million.

Since taking the reins at DuPont, Kullman has overseen a restructuring effort focused on cutting fixed costs and increasing productivity. She noted in January that DuPont had cut fixed costs by more than $1 billion last year.

DuPont, which has cut thousand of jobs and seen sales in the housing and automotive markets tumble amid the global economic downturn, has been buoyed in recent quarters by seed and crop protection sales in its agricultural business. It has worked to expand its presence in China and other emerging markets while emphasizing advanced technologies such as biofuels.

In addition to her salary and bonuses, Kullman received stock shares and options valued at almost $5.4 million when they were granted last year, almost triple the value of the $1.89 million in stock awards and options she received in 2008, according to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in advance of next month’s annual meeting in Wilmington.

The Associated Press 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, bonus, performance-related 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, making the AP total different in most cases than the total reported by companies to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Kullman’s other compensation totaled about $341,000, including company matches of more than $165,000 in retirement benefits and $165,000 for personal use of company aircraft, which DuPont requires for security reasons.

Meanwhile, former Dupont CEO and chairman Charles O. Holliday Jr. saw his compensation drop sharply last year after retiring as chief executive. Holliday received a salary of $114,125, compared to $1.37 million in 2008, and performance-based bonuses of $142,000, a fraction of the $1.7 million he received the previous year. His total compensation was valued at about $266,000, compared with more than $10 million in 2008, when he received stock awards and options valued at almost $7 million.