Data Show Degree to Which Top Five Executives Gained from Options

In an analysis separate from their book, the authors of In the Company of Owners report that the top five executives at the largest companies (those representing 95% of the market's capitalization) saw their profits on stock options exercises climb from $2.4 billion in 1992 to $4.2 billion in 1996 to $10.7 billion in 1999 and $17.6 billion in 2000. The figure dropped back to $8.85 billion in 2001 (2002 data are not available). In 2001, that would mean that the 7,674 executives generating profits on options exercises that year averaged $1.15 million in profits.