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WASHINGTON — The CEO of student loan provider Sallie Mae received compensation valued at nearly $5.4 million last year, a 35 percent cut from 2008, according to an analysis of a regulatory filing Tuesday.
Most of the reduction came from the lower value of stock and options that the lender — formally known as SLM Corp. — gave Albert L. Lord, who began a second stint as CEO in December 2007.
Lord received stock and options that were valued at $3.1 million when they were granted, down from $6.6 million in 2008.
His salary was trimmed to $1.3 million from $1.5 million in 2008, but he got a $950,000 bonus last year after no bonus the year before. His perks fell from $195,118 for a variety of items in 2008 to $43,503 for a contribution to a defined-benefit pension in 2009.
After struggling for much of the past two years, Sallie Mae in late 2009 reversed its losses from a year earlier as it reaped higher revenue from interest and fees on student loans. The company has targeted safer borrowers by requiring higher credit scores and has begun requiring some students to begin making interest payments before they leave school.
The lender earned $597 million last year — $309 million of that came in the fourth quarter — compared with $526 million in 2008.
Shares of Sallie Mae, which is based in Reston, Va., and was created by Congress but is no longer affiliated with or backed by the federal government, rose 27 percent in 2009.
The Associated Press analysis is designed to determine the value that company directors put on compensation given to the CEO during the year. It includes salary, bonuses, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation, and the estimated value of stock and options granted during the year.
The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and the figures can differ from the total that companies report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
