Releasing the results of its annual GC Compensation Survey, industry publication Corporate Counsel has once again confirmed Walt Disney general counsel Alan Braverman as the highest-earning general counsel in the US. According to public filings, Mr Braverman took home $7.03m in cash compensation last year, rising to total take-home pay of around $11.5m when combined with $4.4m in stock options. Mr Braverman also secured the top spot on the GC Compensation List last year, with cash compensation of $6.7m and total take-home pay of $12.187m.

Biggest earners

Joining Walt Disney in the ranking’s top ten are several other media and entertainment companies. Twentieth-Century Fox general counsel Gerson Zweifach climbed from fourth to third position on this year’s list with $6.3m in cash compensation, while Discovery Media general counsel Bruce Campbell and CBS general counsel Larry Tu weighed in at sixth and seventh position respectively. Energy Transfer Equity GC Tom Mason came in second with $6.9m in cash compensation, while Apple’s Bruce Sewell, American Express’ Laureen Seeger and Boeing’s Mike Luttig all scored spots in the top ten.

Average salaries flat

While the highest earners are still going strong, average compensation across Corporate Counsel’s respondent pool has been less impressive in the last year. The average base salary stayed more or less flat at $707,000, while average take-home cash was down around 2 per cent. Average stock option awards were down 12 per cent to $756,849 and the average stock award down 19.1 per cent to $1.89m. 

Sources: Corporate Counsel; Wall Street Journal; Above the Law