Kenneth I. Chenault refused to accept a $42.9 million bonus

It has been announced that Kenneth I. Chenault, the chief executive of American Express Co., received a pay package mostly consisting of stock and option awards worth nearly worth $42.9 million in 2008. However, he declined to accept a 2008 cash bonus, while the bonuses received by other four top executives totaled over $10 million in total. Vice Chairman Edward Gilligan was paid $3.5 million; President Alfred Kelly - $3 million; Chief Financial Officer Dan Henry - $2.1 million; and Chief Information Officer Stephen Squeri - $1.65 million.

Chenault's 2008 compensation was less 17 percent from what he had received in 2007 ($51.7 million). The compensation included stock and option awards worth $34.17 million, which were granted back in January 2008 having been traded at $49.13 and now only at $12.17 (as of Tuesday). The company itself has stated it doubted if the awards for Chenault will ever vest, due to the company's current performance. Nonetheless, its compensation committee found the payment package to be fair as “the company's performance and the individual performance of the (officers) below CEO merited each of them a cash (annual incentive award) in respect of 2008 performance.”

American Express, along with many other lenders, has accepted governmental capital of $3.4 billion in the form of a preferred stock purchase in January. The company has earned $240 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 against $831 million in the same period of 2007. This amounts to 21 cents per share, after the earnings of 71 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2007. The lender's profit of the company in 2008 rose to $2.70 billion ($2.33 per share) from $2.63 billion ($2.27 per share). Total decrease in the prices of the shares of American Express in 2008 had made 64 percent. This year they already are down 34 percent.