Viacom CEO's pay drops to nearly half in 2011

Viacom CEO Dauman's pay nearly halved

The CEO of Viacom Inc.(VIA) received a total pay valued at $43.12 million in 2011, just more than half of his compensation from a year earlier, the company said in a securities filing Friday.

CEO Philippe P. Dauman's compensation in 2010 was $83.52 million, making him the highest-paid among 350 CEOs that year, according to a Hay Group study for The Wall Street Journal. His large 2010 pay was mainly due to equity awards in a renewed contract.

Dauman's pay last year included a $3.5 million base salary, a $20 million bonus, and over $19 million in stock and options.

Despite the decline, Dauman's total compensation was still bigger than that of Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger, whose 2011 pay reached 31.4 million. It was also more than News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch's pay of $33.3 million.

However, Dauman will not be the highest paid CEO for 2011 - Apple's Tim Cook was awarded a $378 million package for replacing Steve Jobs as CEO.