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Heres a question to ask yourself if you arent sure whether media mogul pay reflects merit or cronyism: DidViacom and CBS executive chairman Sumner Redstonedeserve $93M, an 80% year-over-year increase, in the combined compensation he received from the companies in 2013? The answer to this query, and others like it, seems especially relevant here in Deadlines fourth annual effort to try to make sense of the outsized sums media companies pay their leaders. Theyre among the most lavishly compensated in corporate America where CEOs made 206 times what the average worker did in 2011, up from 26.5 times in 1978, economist Thomas Piketty notes in his surprise bestselling new book about growing wealth disparities.That strikes many as fundamentally unfair: The California legislature is weighing a bill that would raise tax rates for companies that give their CEOs more than 100 times the average pay for their workers.

Heres our contribution to the discussion: a tally of the highest-paid executives in media, with metrics and analysis to help you decide what theyre worth. The chart on the right (click to enlarge) shows media execs whose compensation exceeded $10M in 2013 according to company proxies.Below youll find our in-depth look at the top 11 earners on the list. Why 11? That enables us to add Rupert Murdoch, who shouldnt be left out of any discussion of media wealth and power. Those in this Group of 11 collectively made $448.6M in 2013, +15.6% vs 2012, with their median pay +8.3% to $32.5M.

Related: Out Of Whack 2012 Out Of Whack 2011 Out Of Whack 2010

One of the things youll see is how much Redstone contributes to the high level of executive pay in media. He and other leaders at corporations he controls occupy four of the 11 spots on our list. That has a ripple effect: All companies represented here (with a caveat, discussed below, for News Corp) include Viacom and CBS in the list of peers against which they benchmark pay for their own execs. And Redstone isnt all that unusual. You frequently see high pay at enterprises, like many in media, run by families that own little equity but control decision-making by virtue of their supervoting shares.

Boards usually justify their high outlays by pointing to metrics of company success, which they credit to the CEOs. But while those on this list are smart and shrewd, its worth asking how much of their good fortune including their rising stock prices also represents good luck. Keep in mind that all of the media powers represented by this years top 11 own broadcast and/or pay TV channels. Cable and satellite companies complain that these programmers have oligopoly power to raise prices on distributors. Many are aggressively doing so, which distributors say pressures them to raise your rates. Programmers also benefit from a new source of cash: license fees from digital services including Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Our list and the charts that follow include Deadlines annual Out-of-Whack analysis. It illustrates not only that CEOs make vastly more than the public. Some boards are far more generous to the top dog than they are to others in the C-suite. Thatcould be a sign that directors are in the CEOs pocket, or lack confidence in their executive bench, many corporate governance experts say. In any case, research shows that lopsided outlays promote groupthink, damage morale, and often depress a companys stock price. Its a judgement call as to how much of a disparity is too much. Yet those who track the phenomenon typicallybecome alarmed when a CEO makes more than three times the median for the four other top execs whose income must be disclosed to shareholders per SEC rules. Eighteen of the 30 companies we monitor and that have filed information for 2013 failed the test, often miserably, up from 14 out of 31 last year.

A few notes on the data: Most comes from information that the SEC requires publicly traded U.S. companies to disclose. That means we dont have compensation info from some media powers including Sony (based in Japan) or MGM (privately held). Regulators require companies to disclose pay figures for the top execs, usually the top 5. We dont know when a high-ranking, but unlisted, leader at a very large company makes more than a top 5 officer at a smaller one. Weve tried to determine whether the CEOs were job creators, but the SEC only requires companies to report year end employment a figure that can rise for companies that buy properties and fall when they sell. We made a judgment call to include Internet companies heavily focused on content creation, AOL and Yahoo, but not giants only tangentially involved in media such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Twitter. Also, weve provided our admittedly subjective assessment about whether the exec is a flight risk, a potential justification for an over-the-top package.

Heres our tally of the media worlds top-paid execs in 2013:

1. Sumner Redstone, Executive Chairman Viacom & CBS: $93.4M, +80.5%. CBS paidthe 90-year-old executive chairman $57.2M, +83%, while Viacom awarded him $36.2, +77%. What did he do to earn such prodigious sums and raises? The proxy statements dont really say.CBS directors note that while he was executive chairman last year the Company had exceptional results in key metrics, strengthened its financial position, and executed strategies to create and deliver value to its shareholders and to positionthe Company for long-term success. Viacom was more glowing, crediting Redstones leadership and vision as factors that enhanced [the company's] financial position and continued to strengthen itsoverall business in the current economic environment.

Heres another ingredient to consider: Redstone controls National Amusements. It owns relatively little of the equity in the two media companies, but it has supervoting shares that give it and, therefore, him 80% of the votes at CBS and 79% at Viacom.Flight risk: none.

Read more from the original source:
Big Media Moguls With Out-Of-Whack Compensation: Exclusive Deadline List