CIO salary survey: 13 millionaires; financial services take top spots

The top three highest paid chief information officers in 2006 work for financial services firms.

Timothy Shack of PNC Financial Services had a total 2006 compensation of $5.94 million, followed by Gregor Bailar of Capital One at $4.5 million and Steven Sadoff of Knight Capital Group at $1.99 million.

In an examination of proxy statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission filed from Jan. 1 through April 5 there were 13 CIOs who made more than $1 million. Companies typically list their five highest paid executives in their proxy statements. CIOs often don't make the cut but are increasingly turning up. Another trend: CIOs and former CIOs seem to be appearing on company boards more often.   

A few notes about the table below: Total compensation includes equity incentive plans, stock options, bonuses and other items counted as pay such as transportation, expenses, insurance premiums and various benefits. The table also focuses on the two details that matter most: salary and total compensation.

This list is also meant to be periodically updated. I'll probably check the proxies every month or so. I also didn't limit the list by company size to find a broader cross-section of salaries. Given the time frame I searched, nearly all of the companies had fiscal years ending Dec. 31. Kim Nash, my former colleague at Baseline magazine, produces a definitive compensation survey in the summer. Her list from 2006 shows that Shack saw his total compensation fall from 2005.

Enough with the footnotes. Here's the list.