Oracle CEO Ellison's Compensation Falls, but Board Gives Him Thumbs Up

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison saw his compensation drop 17% this year, but the guy is far from being in the poor house. Ellison, who Forbes ranks as the sixth richest man in the world with a net worth of $28 billion, earned a total of $70.1 million during the past fiscal year.

And as in previous years, Ellison agreed to virtually forgo all of his base salary, taking home $1 in pay, according to Oracle's (ORCL) Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday.

Despite the overall drop in his compensation, Oracle's board remains pleased with their CEO's performance. According to their assessment in the SEC filing, they noted GAAP revenues, net income and earnings per share were all up by double digits. "Our financial performance was strong and superior to the financial performance of most of the peer companies against which we compare our executive compensation," the assessment said. "Consequently, our named executive officers each received cash bonuses above their target amounts."

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Ellison's bonus reached $6.5 million, beating the target of $4.2 million. He was slightly more than three-quarters of the way to the maximum bonus of $8.3 million.

Meanwhile, Chuck Phillips, Oracle's former co-president, garnered $30 million in compensation this year, down approximately 13% from the previous year. Phillips, who announced his resignation earlier this week, is also departing Oracle a little on the light side. He's leaving behind 9.75 million in options that have yet to vest.

But his $30 million in compensation may help cushion that loss, as well as the $150,000 difference between his $800,000 base pay and that of Mark Hurd, former Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO, who is replacing him as co-president with a base pay of $950,000.