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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, February 11, 2008

Carnival Corp. CEO got $7.2 million in 2007 pay

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Carnival Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Micky Arison received compensation valued at $7.2 million in fiscal 2007, a 33 percent increase from the previous year, according to a regulatory filing.

The Miami-based cruise operator awarded Arison $850,000 in base salary, the same as in 2006. He also received $2.9 million in nonequity incentive plan compensation, plus restricted stock awards valued at $3.1 million on the day they were granted, according to last week's filing.

Additionally, Arison received $336,688 in all other compensation, which included the personal use of company aircraft, health insurance costs and premiums and personal use of sporting event tickets.

The total pay package for Arison in 2006 was about $5.4 million, when the value of his stock and option awards was about $1.7 million less, according to an Associated Press calculation.

The AP's total pay calculations include executives' salary, bonus, incentives, 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 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Separate from his annual compensation, Arison realized $5.3 million on the exercise of stock options and the vesting of stock awards in 2007.

Carnival Corp. said in its proxy filing that its executive compensation programs are designed to be competitive and reward financial performance. The company reviews executive officer compensation practices at other similarly sized companies including MGM Mirage, Target Corp., Nike Inc., Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Anheuser-Busch Cos.