Highest Salaries Go to GCs in Tech and Media

GCs Median Compensation in 2009, by Industry Tech, Media, & Telecommunications $1,396,000 Consumer Packaged Goods $1,368,000 Financial & Insurance $1,286,000 Industrial $1,204,000 Energy, Utilities, & Materials $1,079,000 Retail $893,000

General counsel at Fortune 1000 companies are doing well, earning, on average, $1,482,922 in salary, bonuses, and other cash awards.

GCs who report directly to the chief executive officer enjoy a median salary 45.7 percent higher than GCs who don't, according to a new report from Equilar, an executive-compensation research firm in Redwood Shores. Further-more, Equilar's Top General Counsel Compensation Report found that the more companies earn, the more their GCs bring home: GCs at companies with more than $20 billion in revenue earned nearly three times as much as those at companies with less than $5 billion in revenue.

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