In describing the pay package in a regulatory filing Monday, IBM’s board praised the Armonk, N.Y.-based technology company’s “very strong” performance despite the rocky economy. IBM’s profit jumped 18 percent to $12.3 billion in 2008, helped by better margins in software and services. Those are two areas where IBM’s corporate customers continue to invest as a way to save money, by outsourcing or automating some of their tech chores, like managing payroll. IBM isn’t immune to the downturn, though: Hardware sales took a hit as corporations put off buying new servers and mainframes. IBM shares, which fell 2.7 percent Monday to $83.48, have traded between $69.50 and $130.93 over the past year.
Palmisano, 57, got $1.8 million in base salary, the same as in 2007. He got a performance-based cash bonus of $5.5 million, which was $500,000 above his target for the year.
His perks totaled $1.4 million. That included $493,881 for expenses incurred on personal travel on the company’s private plane, dividend equivalents of $453,397 on restricted stock, and $412,000 in company contributions to defined contribution plans.
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