Nissan Motor Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said his total compensation last business year was $9.5 million, making him one of the highest-paid executives at a Japanese company.
The Brazilian-born Frenchman made another 1.24 million euros ($1.5 million) at Nissan's French partner, Renault, which he also heads, in 2009. That was less than half his remuneration in 2008, as poor business results and an economic crisis capped performance-based, variable pay.
The size of the dual Renault-Nissan CEO's pay package has been keenly awaited since new corporate disclosure rules are forcing Japanese companies to reveal what they pay executives if they receive more than 100 million yen starting this year. Previously, public companies were only required to disclose what executives received as a group.
Ghosn has repeatedly defended Nissan's pay scale -- off the charts compared with domestic rivals -- as being globally competitive and necessary to attract talent in a global industry.
Addressing the issue at an annual shareholders' meeting on Wednesday, Ghosn said Nissan retains an external firm to benchmark executive pay against its peers. He noted that the highest-paid executive at a global automaker made $17.4 million last year.
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