NEW YORK (AP) – Chief Executive Jim Skinner of McDonald’s Corp., one of only two Dow companies whose stock rose in 2008, got a 70 percent boost in his compensation in 2008, according to an Associated Press analysis of a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday.

Skinner received a total of $13.6 million for the fiscal year, up from $7.9 million in 2007.

Included in that figure are a base salary of $1.3 million – a 6 percent boost from his 2007 salary – and a cash bonus of $4.6 million, up from his 2007 bonus of $3.1 million.

Skinner also received perquisites, or “perks,” of $557,674, including $483,725 paid into a profit-sharing and deferred-bonus plan, $20,790 for company-paid life insurance and undisclosed amounts for personal use of the company’s plane, financial counseling, annual physicals and matching charitable donations.

Much of Skinner’s total compensation came in the form of awards of restricted stock and stock options worth $7.1 million when granted in February.

In 2007, Skinner received stock and options valued at nearly $3 million.

The Associated Press calculations of total pay 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 SEC.

Unlike many other companies that depend on consumers for revenue and profit, McDonald’s had a banner year in 2008. The company managed to grow both its profit and revenue as consumers increasingly chose its low-priced burgers and other meals over fancier sit-down restaurant fare.

For the full year, the company’s net income jumped 79 percent while revenue rose 3 percent. The company also reported month after month of rising same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, considered an important metric of the industry.

Although most stocks fell last year, McDonald’s shareholders saw the value of their shares rise nearly 6 percent.

The company’s annual shareholder meeting is set May 27 in Oak Brook, Ill.


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