GMAC CEO awarded $11.62 mln compensation in 2008

NEW YORK February 28, 2009; Reuters reported that GMAC LLC on Friday said Chief Executive Alvaro de Molina was awarded $11.62 million of compensation in 2008, more than twice as much as a year earlier, when he engineered debt restructurings and capital raising to keep the struggling finance company in business.

De Molina was awarded a $1.2 million salary, $5.81 million of stock awards and $4.8 million of other compensation, offset by option awards of negative $194,000, reflecting the application of an accounting standard.

The company reported de Molina's compensation in a summary compensation table included in its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

GMAC said de Molina's compensation was $4.93 million in 2007. He joined the company on September 5 that year as chief operating officer, and became chief executive in April 2008.

De Molina moved to GMAC two months after joining GMAC's majority owner Cerberus Capital Management LP, the private equity firm. He had previously been chief financial officer of Bank of America Corp .

Some pay consultants and governance experts tabulate executive pay differently, saying the summary total may be imperfect because it counts options and stock as part of pay when they vest rather than when they are awarded.

About $2.26 million of de Molina's compensation in 2008 came from the use of corporate aircraft. GMAC said it no longer provides aircraft for business or personal use.

GMAC has in recent quarters suffered operating losses in its auto and mortgage units, but in December won a $6 billion government bailout, as well as bank holding company status that allows it to tap lower-cost funding.

The bailout required Cerberus and General Motors Corp to slash their respective 51 percent and 49 percent stakes in the Detroit-based lender.

In the annual report, GMAC said there remains substantial doubt about the ability of its mortgage lending unit, Residential Capital LLC, to survive. GMAC said it might take a $3.1 billion charge if ResCap were to file for bankruptcy protection and its investment in ResCap equity fell to zero.

For all of 2008, GMAC had a $1.87 billion profit, largely from a one-time gain related to a $21.2 billion debt swap.