Highest-paid executive

Linux World notes an interesting point that might not have been obvious in reports this week about Microsoft's executive compensation: The company's highest-paid executive in its 2004 fiscal year, judging solely by the combination of salary and bonus, was not Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer but rather Jeff Raikes, the company's Information Worker (Office, etc.) group vice president.

That was one piece of information disclosed in the company's annual proxy filing Monday. In case you're wondering, it's not the first time that an executive other than Ballmer or Gates has received the largest combination of salary and bonus. The previous year, for example, Windows boss Jim Allchin had the highest combined total among the company's top executives.

Also, apart from salary and bonus, neither Gates nor Ballmer receives stock awards, unlike the company's other executives, and neither received options when the company gave those to executives and employees. Of course, Gates is already the company's largest shareholder, owning more than 10 percent of Microsoft's outstanding shares, according to the proxy statement. Ballmer owns about 3.8 percent.

For this year's numbers, here's the executive compensation list that ran with our story about the filing yesterday, showing the combination of salary and bonus in the 2004 fiscal year:

• Bill Gates, chief software architect: $901,667, up 4.5 percent
  
• Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer: $901,667, up 4.5 percent
  
• Jim Allchin, group vice president, platforms: $900,334, down 0.5 percent
  
• Kevin Johnson, group vice president, sales: $915,336, up 35 percent
  
• Jeff Raikes, group vice president, IW: $962,500, up 17 percent