Washington is increasingly a company town—and we don’t mean government. Some of the region’s major corporations do thrive by providing goods and services to the feds. But there’s extraordinary range and diversity in the private sector here, with companies engaged in manufacturing, health care, finance, media, energy, education, hospitality, technology, and more. Even as much of the country struggles in a recovering economy, business is good in Washington—as the earnings of the people who run its companies clearly show.
Here are the top earners from the Washington Business Journal’s 2010 list of highest-paid public-company CEOs. Figures are total compensation for 2009, including salary, bonus, stock awards, option awards, and other compensation.
Robert J. Stevens, Lockheed Martin, $23 million.
Martine A. Rothblatt, United Therapeutics, $17.6 million.
Allen F. Wise, Coventry Health Care, $17.4 million.
Jay L. Johnson,General Dynamics, $12.8 million.
David M. Zaslav,Discovery Communications, $11.7 million.
H. Lawrence Culp Jr., Danaher, $11.1 million.
Bill Marriott,Marriott International, $10.9 million.
Michael W. Laphen, CSC, $9.6 million.
Tom P.H. Adams, Rosetta Stone, $9.5 million.
Paul Hanrahan,AES, $8.8 million.
Michael L. Chasen, Blackboard, $8.4 million.
Paul M. Cofoni,CACI International, $6.5 million.
John K. Welch, USEC, $6.1 million.
Richard D. Fairbank, Capital One Financial Corp., $6.1 million.
Steven P. Dussek, NII Holdings, $5.9 million.
Robert S. Silberman, Strayer Education, $5.6 million.
Albert L. Lord,Sallie Mae, $5.4 million.
Richard Rudman, Vocus, $5.1 million.
Steven A. Museles, CapitalSource, $5.1 million.
James J. Pieczynski,CapitalSource, $4.7 million.
Michael J. Saylor, MicroStrategy, $4.7 million.
Craig Dubow,Gannett, $4.7 million.
W. Edward Walter,Host Hotels & Resorts, $4.6 million.
Jeffrey E. Ganek, Neustar, $4.2 million.
Bryce Blair, AvalonBay Communities, $4 million.
Donald C. Wood, Federal Realty Investment Trust, $3.5 million.
Stephen P. Joyce, Choice Hotels International, $3.5 million.
Vincent D. Kelly, USA Mobility, $3.5 million.
Matthew J. Desch, Iridium Communications, $3.4 million.
Joseph M. Rigby, Pepco Holdings, $3.1 million.
Richard A. Montoni, Maximus, $3 million.
This feature first appeared in the Novermber 2010 issue of The Washingtonian.
Sherri Dalphonse joined Washingtonian in 1986 as an editorial intern, and worked her way to the top of the masthead when she was named editor-in-chief in 2022. She oversees the magazine’s editorial staff, and guides the magazine’s stories and direction. She lives in DC.
